Dead Like Shinichi
by Iwamoto Yuri
Summary: What if Shinichi hadn't turned into Conan, but had died instead and ended up working as a Grim Reaper? Rated T for no reason. R&R Plz.
1. Murdered

**A DC version of Dead Like Me with some slight changes to the abilities of grim reapers. Rated T for no reason.**

**Shinichi: Did you have to torture me like this?**

**Me: Well, ofcourse, torture is fun!**

**Shinichi: *Facepalm* I'm swearing to god, if I ever get my hands on you! *Makes strangle motions with his hands***

**Me: Too bad your a fictional character :). (If you weren't Hattori would be real too and I'd hug him to death.) *insert evil laughter***

**Shinichi: *crosses his arms and taps with his left foot* Isn't it Disclaimer time?**

**Masago: The author of this story is too lazy to write a Disclaimer and finds it rather stupid to do so, since this is a site for fanfics and it is logical she never owns any of the characters unless they're OC's. *Stares at reader***

**Shinichi: You're not helping!**

**Me: And if you're done reading, REVIEW! *puts on a hypnotic melody that makes you review after reading***

* * *

It was dark outside, but the light of the attractions gave you enough chance to see two teens, a boy and a girl, walking over the main plaza of Tropical Land. The boy was talking with a smug expression on his face, the girl was sobbing, clearly upset with something. It was only after a while that the boy seemed to notice it and he stopped his pace, turning around to face the girl.

"Oi, Ran. That case really upset you, didn't it?" He said, giving his childhood friend a caring glance.

"Of course! Someone got killed out there Shinichi! How can you be so heartless?" Ran sobbed. Shinichi sighed. Ran had always been like this: Putting up a though façade but easily breaking down. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, not liking to see her sad like this, but then spotted the two suspicious men in black who had been at the murder scene walking into a dark alley.

"Go on without me, Ran." He said and ran to where they had went, waving goodbye to his friend. "Don't worry, I'll capture up with you!"

"Shinichi, wait!" Ran said and tried to follow him, but her shoelace snapped. All she could do was look how her friend disappeared into the darkness. "Please be safe." She said as she stretched out her hand. 'What is this feeling? This feeling that I'll never ever see you again?'

As Ran thought this Shinichi carefully looked around the corner, seeing how one of the man in black picked a tape out of his pocket to trade it for a suitcase filled with money. 'I knew there was something fishy about those guys!' He thought as he took out his cell phone and started to dial Megure-Keibu's number. 'Now I'll just inform the inspector so he can take him in!'

But what Shinichi hadn't realized was that the other man in black wasn't there. The man in question was sneaking up behind him, lifting a small iron pipe, ready to give Shinichi a blow on the head.

"So, who do we have here? Our little detective." The man said, swinging down the pipe. Shinichi turned around, realizing the mistake he had made, but it was too late. The pipe hit his head and with a short "Oof" Shinichi fell to the ground, blood seeping from the wound the blast had caused.

"A-Aniki!" The man in black who had been taking care of the deal said as he turned around in surprise, letting the small businessman who he'd been dealing with escape. Then he looked back at where the businessman had been and cursed.

"Let him go, we'll take care of him later. But first…" The other man in black bend slightly forward, letting his long silver hair fall down his shoulders, and stared at Shinichi's face. "First we make sure our little detective friend will never speak a word about what he's seen here."

His companion took out a gun and pointed it at Shinichi. "We'll make this a fast one then." He started to unlock the safety mode when the silver haired man stopped him.

"No, you fool!" He hissed. "The cops are still crawling around from that murder case! A gun would leave too many traces, even if you use a silencer." He searched through his pocket and pulled out a small metal case. "They say it leaves no trace. Sounds perfect for our little situation."

Though it wasn't visible through his black sunglasses, the companion of the silver haired man was shocked. "But Aniki, that stuff hasn't even been tested yet!"

"We'll test it now." The silver haired man replied while he kneeled down, lifted Shinichi's head and pushed a capsule down the boy's throat. "Sleep tight, meitantei." Then the two men in black left.

Shinichi groaned. His body was on fire! It was like every vein in his body contained lava instead of blood. And his bones, they felt like they were melting! The pain was unbearable. He wanted to scream his lungs out, but the pain had taken away his voice. Shinichi closed his eyes and thought of Ran. Ran… He had never told her how he felt about her and now he would never have the chance to do so. He felt sorry for leaving her like that, her face filled with sadness and despair as he left her behind. 'I'm sorry Ran.' He though as he felt his consciousness slip away.

At least, that was how it felt at first. But after a while, or at least what seemed like a while, he noticed he could still hear, feel a soft breeze, smell the scent of grass. Why wasn't he feeling the soil on his cheek? Wasn't he supposed to be lying on the ground? Slowly Shinichi opened his eyes and noticed he was standing which was weird. Then he looked down and his mouth fall open. "O." Beneath his feet was his body, lying perfectly still, blood flowing down his left temple.

"I see you finally noticed." Shinichi whirled around to where the voice came from and saw a man in his mid thirties with dark brown, almost black hair and emerald green eyes, standing in the shadows.

"How long have you been there?" He said, noticing that his voice sounded weird. It sounded hollow, like it came out of nowhere and didn't really exist at all.

"Ever since you were attacked by them. Good thing they didn't spot me." The man said and smiled sadly when he saw how angry Shinichi looked at him. "It's not like I could have helped you. If you hadn't died by their hand _they _would have found another way. It's all planned out, every death is chosen at every birth, sometimes life is ruled out completely. It's the reapers way, son."

Shinichi frowned, not sure he understood. "The reapers way?" He turned away from his body and stared at the man, making sure he had understood him right. "Isn't that just a bunch of bullshit made up by some guy with farfetched theories?"

The man laughed and shook his head. "You really are a detective, only believing in what can be scientifically proved." Then he turned serious. "But it's a hundred percent true, son, I can tell you that. And you should be able too, seeing your body like that." The man looked at his watch. "Now, come over here, the cops should be arriving pretty soon."

Shinichi hesitated, but then slowly walked over to the man, not completely sure he could trust the guy, buy also knowing he couldn't hurt him either, not in the state he was in now. "You called the cops?"

The man shook his head. "No, but I informed the reaper that was tracking you. You're her last, so she really freaked out when she'd lost you out of sight."

Suddenly the light of a flashlight went over the grass field where Shinichi's body was lying on. The man grimaced and quickly hid behind the bushes he had been standing next to, beckoning to Shinichi to follow him. Shinichi did reluctantly, not quite knowing why. When he'd made sure he couldn't be seen he observed how the light moved across the field. After scanning it for a while the light suddenly stopped when it found what was left of him. "Iwamoto-San, there's a body here." A tall male policeman with dark brown hair and brown eyes appeared, along with his female companion, who had jet black hair and incredible blue eyes. They kneeled down at Shinichi's body and slowly turned it around, their eyes growing big with shock.

"It's K-Kudo Shinichi!" The female agent said, her voice filled with shock, and she quickly grabbed his wrist, checking for a pulse. After a while she softly put his arm down, her eyes turning sad. "He's dead, Taijiro-Kun." The male agent stared at her in fear.

"You're sure?" He said, swallowing. Then his eyes fell down at the remains. "I mean, he can't be dead, can he?" his voice was filled with disbelieve.

"I'm a hundred percent sure, poor boy. What did he do to deserve this?" The female cop replied while observing the boy. Shinichi stared at her. Somehow the woman looked familiar, though he had no idea where they could've met. "Someone gave him a blow to the head, but it doesn't look serious, he was probably poisoned to make sure he was dead." She stood up and reached out to her walkie-talkie, only to realize it wasn't there. "Err, I forgot my walkie-talkie. Guess we'll have to use yours."

The male cop nodded and moved his hand to his back pocket, then froze, searching for an item that wasn't be there. "I forgot mine too, guess we left them in the canteen when we were called out." He frowned. "Strange, I usually check if I have it with me."

"Then go get them, and alert the others while you're there. I'll stay with the body." The female cop said, tapping her foot and sounding slightly irritated. Her male companion swallowed.

"Okay, but watch out, alright? The people who killed him might still be around." He replied and stood up, giving the female cop a last glance before disappearing.

"Sada-San, is he gone?" the man with the dark brown hair asked softly, peeking over the top of the bushes.

"Ah, what a mess! Don't worry, Masago-San, the coast is clear now." The female cop named Iwamoto Sada turned around and gave him a friendly smile. "Although I would hurry, if I were you. Someone left a bomb that will explode within a few minutes."

"A bomb?" Shinichi said, appearing from his hiding spot. Sada looked up at him and nodded. "Whoever bumped in to you probably didn't want to leave a trace, now let's get this over with, shall we?"

The man, or Masago, nodded and smiled at Shinichi. "Well son, it's time."

Shinichi frowned, not knowing what to make of this, and stared at Sada as she walked over and suddenly grabbed his wrist. Shinichi shrieked when she did this. It wasn't like he hated being touched, but hers was like fire and Shinichi's eyes widened as Sada's hand lit up and made his skin glow and somehow, materialize?

"It's done." Sada said when she finally dropped Shinichi's wrist, staring at him with a warm and happy smile, like she had been bonded to something and finally had been set free, ready to spread her wings and fly away. She gave a sad glance at Masago and hugged him. "It's strange, but I think I'll miss you guys." She muttered. "Give them my farewell, will you? And make sure they are kind to our little newbie."

'Newbie?' Shinichi didn't really understand, nor did he want to. Things were just to weird. First he had died, became some sort of ghost and then was resurrected somehow. 'Perfect, just perfect!'

"Don't worry, I will." Masago slowly let Sada go, patting her on the head before she turned around and returned to Shinichi's dead body. "C'mon son, we'd better get out of here before the bomb explodes or someone sees us."

"Wait, shouldn't we get her away from here too?" Shinichi protested, nodding at Sada. He didn't want more deaths tonight.

Masago gave him a weird glance and shrugged. "It's her time to go, didn't I tell you you're her last one?" He lifted one eyebrow and then walked away. "Now hurry up!"

* * *

"Could you please explain this to me now?" Shinichi said. He already had a hard time following the man he now knew as Masago, his new body still being very stiff. He shouldn't even have a body right now. He should be dead, nothing more or less, just dead.

"Not here." Masago replied, not slowing his pace unless he had to stop for a traffic light. "At my place, I usually don't take people with me, but I guess you don't have another place to stay, since today's meeting is already over."

After that the both of them didn't talk for a while, giving Shinichi the time to observe his surroundings. They were in a part of Tokyo he hadn't seen very often, but he recognized the tall buildings and the occasional bar from times that his mom took him to an old cinema that mainly showed movies about weird superheroes and stupid soaps, something the little him wasn't really interested in, and he still wasn't.

Suddenly Masago stopped in front of a staircase next to a café called Souru and started to climb them, leaving the stunned Shinichi behind. When he finally noticed Shinichi hadn't followed him looked over his shoulder. "Are you still coming kid?"

"Err, yeah, sorry." Shinichi replied and walked up the stairs to the second floor where Masago was standing, opening the door to an apartment. Then he stared at Shinichi.

"You go first."

Shinichi blinked and nodded, walked into the apartment, pulled off the shoes that had appeared alongside his new body and traded them for a pair of slippers. When he was done he looked around and tried to ignore the feeling he had been here before, while he knew that was impossible.

"Do you like it?" Masago stared at him as he pulled of his shoes, waiting for a reaction.

"It reminds me of my friends house." Shinichi muttered, just now realising why the apartment looked so familiar. "The lay out and interior look a lot like each other." When he had said that he bend his head. 'Ran…' She would have heard by now that he had died.

"Interesting, well sit down and wait while I make tea, we have a lot to talk about." Masago said with a nod, then showed him the living room and disappeared into the kitchen while Shinichi sat down at the table. Within a few minutes he was back and poured steaming tea into two small cups. "If you want sugar I'll get some out of the kitchen."

Shinichi shook his head. "It's fine." He sipped from his cup of tea and put it down when he burned his tongue, deciding to let it cool down a bit before drinking it again.

Masago folded his hands and stared at Shinichi. "Now, I can imagine you have a lot of questions." He stared straight into Shinichi's eyes, making him shiver out of discomfort. "But I'll start with a proper introduction of myself."

"My name Hatano Masago, and though I look like I'm 36, my actual age is 101." Shinichi stared at him, thinking he hadn't heard the man right. Masago smiled at him, and continued to tell about himself. "I died on August the ninth, in Hiroshima. I guess you know what the cause of death would have been. My body was never found, probably shredded apart by the impact." As he said that there was a flicker of pain in his deep green eyes that disappeared as fast as it had appeared. "Luckily, my wife and daughter weren't in Hiroshima that day. They had a hard time with my absence, but I kept supporting them in every way I could. My wife died 24 years after my death and my daughter is now a grandma of three grandchildren." He smiled sadly and took a sip of his tea, but put it down immediately. "I think I made the tea a bit too hot."

Shinichi could only stare at Masago, thinking the man was crazy. No way he could be 101, that just wasn't possible? And then there was the part about dying. Shinichi wasn't sure what to think of that, since, in a way, he knew the guy could be speaking the true.

"Are you saying you're a zombie?" This surprised Masago and he began to laugh.

"No, son. I'm a Grim Reaper." He replied with a smile. "And from now on, you'll be one too."

"What?" Shinichi said, hoping he'd misunderstood what Masago had just said to him. Had he been talking for real when he'd said it was the Grim Reapers way? But that couldn't be true, could it? That was just impossible.

Masago could only smile at Shinichi's shocked face that somehow made the kid look very funny. "That brings us to the next part: The Grim Reaper." He sighed. "It's the Grim Reapers job to cut the ties that attaches the soul to the body before death and afterwards help the soul cross over to the other side. To be able to do this without people recognizing after death, he or she receives a new body, along with a new appearance. Once a Reaper has helped enough souls he or she is granted to cross to the other side himself. The last soul that is freed from his body then takes over the role of being a Grim Reaper." Masago sipped his tea again, his eyes looking sad. "It's a never ending circle."

"And what if I don't want to?" Shinichi stared at him furiously, crossing his arms. "Be a Grim Reaper, I mean?"

"Then you'll roam on this world forever." Masago's voice suddenly sounded cold and distant, as if he had lost his patience. He sipped his from his tea again and then smashed the cup on the table, spilling hot tea over his hand. "Now, have you thought of a new name yet?"

"Huh?"

"A new name! You don't think you can run around telling you're Kudou Shinichi, do you?"

Shinichi frowned. Now thought about it, it did sound logical to change his name. "What about, Edogawa Conan?"

* * *

**Me: *sigh* I already have to make up a lot of names, so I was too lazy to make up a new one for our fellah Shinichi.**

**Shinichi: You're awful. You make me sound OOC too.**

**Me: *Claps hands out of happyness* I know :), and I think you're pretty much yourself, you just died, that would be a big shock, ya know? *Pokes Shinichi in his chest***

**Masago: He's right, you even made me sound a bit OOC. *Stares at reader***

**Me: Aw, shut up!**

**going on to other stuff:**

**I know I should have finished The Last Match first, but this idea kept buggin me, so here it is! This is what happens when dead like me and detective conan get mixed up (but with new characters) ! Got this idea when I was reading a few stories where Shinichi died, and I started to wonder: What would happen if Shinichi dies, but ends up working as a soul reaper? Wouldn't that be against everything he believed in? Wahaha, I'm evil!**

**As for the Chara itroduce section:**

**Hatano Masago - As leader of a group of Grim Reapers his main job is to hand out post its with names of people who are going to die, his other job is too look after the Grim Reapers in his area, making sure they don't mess up. He is a very silent and caring person, even tough he tries to hide it, he cares a lot about his fellow reapers, but mainly his care goes out to Shinichi, pitying him for his too soon death. Masago died on the 9th of August 1945 when America dropped an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima. His daughter and his wife weren't in the city that day and thus survived, his daughter is now a caring grandma of three grandchildren, one of them being one of the Detective Boys.**

**Iwamoto Sada - The Grim Reaper that gave her role to Shinichi. Not much is known about her besides that she was a cop working for the metropolitan police station. **

**Iimori Taijiro - Sada's police partner, though not much is known about him now, he wil have an important role in the rest of the story.**

***Puts the hypnotic melody off* Now review! The button is right there!**

(It's down here, now hit it and review!)

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	2. Back to school

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SilverZone - Thanx, wonder why nobody else ever came up with it... Dead Like Me is awesome, isn't it?

Black Phantom 1412 - Jay, thanx. Arigato gozaimasu!

...

Me: Thanx to the people who faved an reviewed (My inbox was filled, I'm so happy :D)

**Hattori: Sooo, what exactly am I supposed to do here?**

**Me: Be cute! (date me =3)**

**Sada: *laughes* Give the guy a break, will you? He's already having a hard time solving cases.**

**Hattori: She's right! Masago, Disclaimers please!**

**Masago: *Roles eyes* The author of this story is too lazy to write a Disclaimer and finds it rather stupid to do so, since this is a site for fanfics and it is logical she never owns any of the characters unless they're OC's.**

**Me: And this time every reviewer and faver will get a bunch of my home made cyber cookies! (they're delicious!) *Puts on R&R hypno music just in case***

* * *

Ran shrieked as her eyes fall on the person that had rung the bell of the Detective Agency. Megure Keibu and Takagi-Keiji stared at her with compassion and sorrow, making the alarm bells in her head ring. What had happened? An accident, kidnapping or did someone die? 'God, no.' Her eyes turned huge and filled with tears.

"Ran-Kun. I have some bad news." Megure Keibu said softly. He looked terrible: his eyes were red, his clothes dirty and his skin was pale. Takagi gave her an uneasy glance and looked at his feet again while wringing his hands.

'No, no, no, no no no no no!' This couldn't be happening, could it? This was just a lie, a big fat lie. Was it Sonoko, mom? Or maybe… No, it couldn't be, not him. He had promised he'd come after her, he would probably appear any moment and they would all laugh at it.

"What happened?" Ran shrieked again as the voice of her father suddenly came from behind. Hell, she hadn't heard him coming. Kogoro looked over his daughters shoulder, his beer and Yoko concert temporarily forgotten.

"Not sure, when we arrived at the scene a bomb had just exploded a few minutes ago, taking one of our cops in the progress." Megure Keibu said as he picked on his gloves. "All we know that she and her college found a dead body 15 minutes prior to the explosion." His eyes switched from Kogoro to Ran and then back to Kogoro, like he didn't know what to say anymore.

Ran felt her heart drop. She knew where this was going to, but she didn't want to believe it. Her knees started to shake and her hand searched for her father's shoulder to make she wouldn't fall.

"That still doesn't really tell us what happened." Kogoro said and looked in to Megure Keibu's eyes. "Start at the beginning, if you will."

Megure Keibu bit his lip. "A few minutes after the case in Tropical Land two of our agents found a dead body, but forgot to bring their walkie talkies, so one of them stayed with the body while the other one went to get some back up. When he returned to the scene where the body had been found, there had been an explosion and the whole area had been destroyed. We were able to find two bodies, one of them probably from the agent left behind and the other the already dead body." He finally sighed and then took a deep breath to say the words he had been meaning to say. "We have reasons to believe this body was the body of Kudou Shinichi."

Ran cried as she fall to her knees, not believing the words that Megure Keibu had spoken. "No!" she screamed. "No, this is a lie! Tell me your joking! Tell me!" She fall to Megure's feet, tears rolling down her cheeks. "NOOO!"

* * *

"No!" Shinichi jumped up and bumped his head against something. With a groan he fall on his butt and rubbed his head as he looked around. Where the hell was he? This sure wasn't his bedroom.

"You should be more careful, kid." Shinichi looked up and saw Masago standing in the doorway, making him remember what had happened the previous day. He looked down at his knees and sighed.

"I know, it's just.." He muttered and then trailed off when he thought of the dream he'd had. He had been running, chasing after his own shadow, never catching up with it. Then, when he gave up running after it, he saw Ran, staring at him with big sad eyes and stretching out her hand, screaming not to leave her as he fall into a big black hole. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, trying to forget what he had dreamed of.

"Come on, breakfast's ready!" Masago said as he gave Shinichi a sympathetic look and turned around to walk away into the living room.

Shinichi stared after him, then sighed and stood up carefully, avoiding the wooden cabinets he had bumped in to and followed Masago into the living room. The guy was already sitting at the table, pricking a fork into some scrambled eggs. 'So he eats with a fork huh?' This intrigued Shinichi, but he decided to put it aside. "Ano…" Masago looked up.

"What is it, son?"

"Err, well" Shinichi scratched his chin. "I wanted to ask you what I'm supposed to do now that I'm dead. I can't actually sit here hanging around at your place the whole time while eating your food and doing nothing, can I?"

Masago smiled. "Exactly, that is why from now on you'll go to Teitan High." He took a bite of his egg and grinned when he saw Shinichi's shocked face. "I already enrolled you into their first year. You are starting today, so hurry up!"

"Nani?" Shinichi let his mouth drop open. Was this guy serious?

"There is no going back now." Masago stood up, shoving his now empty plate away, and walked over to Shinichi, patting him on the shoulder. "Have some breakfast and go wash yourself afterwards. I already bought you some clothes and school stuff, but you'll have to get the rest by yourself after school." He smiled again. "Now close your mouth. You're going to catch some flies!"

Shinichi swallowed. "Err, okay." He stared at his feet as he walked over to the table and sighed. Somewhere he still didn't believe what had happened yesterday. It was just too weird. Grim Reapers, dying and resurrecting, it just couldn't happen. But while he thought that he knew it could, 'cause it had already happened. As he sat down at the table he noticed today's paper and picked it up.

"Detective of the East dead?" He read it out loud, not really believing the papers could have picked up on this so soon. 'might as well read it.' He sighed again and began to read the article.

_"Yesterday evening two bodies were found at the scene of an explosion, leaving no trace of who they were. However, it is stated that one of the bodies might have been Kudou Shinichi's. The police rapport states his body was already discovered and was confirmed dead by the police agent who most likely died in the explosion and is thus thought to have been the second body found at the scene."_

"You shouldn't read that, half of it is complete bullshit." Shinichi gasped when Masago suddenly pulled the paper out of his hands. "You should focus on eating your breakfast and getting ready for today." He said as he ripped the front page of the paper in two and threw it away.

"Right, right, I'm sorry okay?" Shinichi replied angrily as he started to eat his egg. Masago was already getting on his nerves.

'Why am I even doing this?' Shinichi thought to himself as he walked down the familiar road to school. He stopped for a second to look at his reflection in the window of a small store. When he had first seen himself he thought his mom had smeared make up all over his face: His skin had a dark tan, which was quite unusual for Japanese people. His hair still had the same color, though it wasn't frizzy like it used to be and his eyes still were the same piercing cerulean blue. Somehow he reminded himself a bit of Takagi-Keiji. 'This is so bizarre.' Shinichi sighed and continued his walk. He soon reached the gates and hurried his way over to the principal's office.

His feet automatically found the way while his mind was somewhere else, somewhere where Grim Reapers were just fairytales and where he would be next to Ran, chatting with his classmates and other stuff he couldn't do anymore. And too soon Shinichi found himself in front of the door to the principal's office. He knocked twice and waited for an answer.

The door swung open, revealing a tired looking principal. "Edogawa Conan?" Shinichi nodded and bit his lip. "C'min, c'min, me boy." The man said in a blur and slowly walked over to his desktop, dropping down on his chair with a sigh. "You certainly picked a time to get yourself signed up for this school, boy, thinking about the current events." The principal folded his hands and stared at Shinichi.

"You mean with what happened to Kudou Shinichi right?" Shinichi said softly. Then he stared at his feet. "I know, I lost my family recently and was supposed to stay with him till I got things straight again." Well, part of it was true, he had lost his family, but it would be safer to stick with this story.

"Sorry for your losses then." The principal replied. "Your teacher will come and pick you up in a few minutes, I have your books and schedule here." He pointed at a mountain of books with a paper on top. "You'll be brought to class 1B, it was his class, but it's the only one that has a few places left, I'm afraid."

There was a soft knock on the door and the familiar face of Takahashi sensei appeared. "Sir, I'm not interrupting, are I?" She asked and let her eyes fall on Shinichi.

"No, we were just finished." The headmaster said and gave a nod to Shinichi. "Now, take your books and follow Takahashi-San to her class. I expect you to do as she says."

Shinichi nodded as he lifted his new books from the desktop and walked over to Takahashi sensei. She gave him a kind smile. "Just follow me, we'll go to your locker first so you can put away the books that you don't need for today and then I'll introduce you to the class." She said with a gentle voice and then opened the door for him.

"Err, thanx." Shinichi replied as he walked back into the hallway and waited for Takahashi sensei to follow him.

"You sound exactly like him." Takahashi said and looked at Shinichi while she closed the door behind her.

Shinichi blinked. "What?"

Takahashi sensei shook her head and started to walk down the hallway. Shinichi stared at her in surprise and followed, curious where she had been talking about. After a few minutes Takahashi sensei stopped in front of a locker and turned around.

"It's this one." She said, pointing at the locker next to her and handed a key to Shinichi.

"Thank you, Sensei." Shinichi replied as he gratefully took on the key and opened the locker, sorting out the books he got and putting several in his bag before placing the others in his new locker and locking it off.

"Tell me, did you know Kudou-Kun?" Shinichi looked up at Takahashi sensei and blinked in surprise.

"Err, yeah, I did. Met him on a case once and kept contact with him ever since. He was kind of teaching me how to become a detective like he was." He fall silent and stared at the locker next to his that had a name plate which said: Kudou Shinichi. "I was supposed to stay with him, but he never turned up. I ended up sleeping with some old friend of my dad who I happened to run in to." He smiled sadly and shook his head. "And there I finally thought I could finally get my life straight." He stared at Takahashi sensei and felt bad for telling her all those lies, but he knew there was no other way. He couldn't tell her he was Shinichi, now could he?

"Sorry, for asking then." Takahashi sensei replied. "I didn't want to make you feel bad, it's just you remind me a lot of him." She shrugged. "I hope it won't make the other students feel bad."

Shinichi nodded. "I'll try to watch out with what I do, I know what it's like to lose someone and constantly be reminded of him or her." It wasn't a whole lie. He kept thinking about Ran, who he had lost the moment he died, and who he would see every day so he would be reminded of his stupid mistake. Maybe that was why Masago had enrolled him to this school: so he wouldn't forget what had happened.

"No, you shouldn't." Takahashi sensei said. "Sometimes it's a good thing to be reminded of someone, maybe this will help some of the students to move on." She sighed and beckoned Shinichi to follow her. "Come on, the classroom isn't far away."

* * *

"Are you sure honey?" Kisaki Eri asked her daughter.

Ran nodded. "Maybe school will get my mind of him for a while." She said with a shaky voice and rubbed a tear out of her eye. "I just can't stand sitting here at home."

"Oh dear." Eri hugged Ran tightly. "You know you don't have to stay strong for us." She gave an angry glance to her husband who was sitting on the couch while reading the front article of the paper, that said: "Detective of the East dead?" in big bold letters. 'You insensitive bastard.'

"I have to mom." Ran replied while a tear rolled down her cheek. "I can't break down, I know he wouldn't want me to." He would have wanted her to stay strong, not to cry over him. _"Go on without me, Ran."_ The image of Shinichi running away reappeared in her head. _"Don't worry, I'll capture up with you!" _The words echoed through her mind. _"Don't worry!"_ She should have stopped him that moment, then he would have been alive, then they could have walked to school together, then she could be able to tell him how much she loved him, ask him to never leave her.

"Are you sure, dearling?" Eri said as she released Ran from her hug, her eyes filled with concern.

"Trust her woman." Kogoro muttered as he put down his paper. "She is nearly an adult now, she knows what she is talking about."

Eri whirled around and gave him a glare that could have killed him. "What do you know about it. You don't seem to care about it!" she screamed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Of course I care, but we can't help her ease to this pain. If she thinks going to school will help her with this we should trust her and let her go!" Kogoro said furiously. Eri opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong, but was cut off by Ran.

"He's right mom." She said as she stared at her feet. Actually she didn't want to go anywhere. She wanted to lock herself in her room and cry her eyes out, but she had to stay strong. For herself and for him. Suddenly the bell rang and everybody looked up.

"That must be Sonoko, I called her and asked her to pick me up, see you after school mom." Ran continued and walked over to the door to greet a messy Sonoko.

"Be careful dear." Eri said as her daughter disappeared out of the door.

Ran sighed as she closed the door behind her and looked at Sonoko. "Thanks for getting me out of there, I thought I was going crazy." She said as the two of them walked down the stairs that led to Ran's home.

"Are you kidding? I thought you were going crazier. Going to school after what happened, you are lucky I can keep my cool." Sonoko answered as she brushed her brown hair out of her face, trying to act as normal as possible, but clearly affected by the current events.

"Geez, Sonoko." Ran said and rolled with her eyes. She was glad her friend didn't tell her how sorry she was for Shinichi's death. She already felt guilty for not stopping him from running in to his murderers, and Sonoko knew she shouldn't go on and on about it.

"You are lucky my private driver had enough time to drop me off here. He has to pick up my sister's fiancée." Sonoko said and planted one of her hands on her hip as she stared in to Ran's eyes, who was currently staring at her feet. "He proposed yesterday, isn't it romantic?" She sighed dramatically and straightened her back. "Maybe once I will find my prince, if he doesn't spot you first." She continued after a few minutes and gave Ran an envious glare.

"You make me sound like a boy magnet." Ran replied. "It's not like I ask for it." She rolled her eyes again as they passed the schools gates. 'The only one I wanted was him.'

"Well, it's not like you are looking for someone. You already have your husba…" Sonoko's eyes grew big when she realized her mistake. "Sorry, I forgot."

Ran shook her head and smiled sadly. "Don't be, I still can't believe it myself." She bit her lip as they entered the school building. Sonoko walked over to her shoe locker and pulled out her slippers. There was a moment of silence while they both put their shoes away.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it." Ran looked up in surprise when Sonoko said this and stared at her, blinking a few times. Sonoko was looking at Shinichi's shoe locker that was now decorated with his photo and some stickers shaped like hearts and flowers. "I never imagined that our deduction freak would get himself killed."

Sadness filled Ran's eyes. "Yeah, that stupid mystery otaku." Her vision got blurry as her eyes filled with tears, but she wiped them away before they could run down her cheeks. "Come on, let's go to the class."

Sonoko nodded and both walked to their classroom in silence, not sure what to talk about.

"You got to be kidding me. They can't really do that, can they?"

"According to Takahashi Sensei they already excepted him before the news came in."

"What's wrong, Tashiro-San, Hidaka-San?" Sonoko asked when she spotted the two girls who were standing outside room 1B. The girls looked up when they heard Sonoko's voice and both of them started to complain immediately.

"We're getting a new student." Hidaka answered furiously. "Can you believe it? After what happened yesterday?" She toyed around with her glasses and shook her head out of disbelieve.

"They are completely out of their mind." Tashiro agreed while putting her shoulder long brownish hair out of her eyes.

Ran smiled. "I guess the new student can't help it." She said softly. "Let's not give him a hard time okay?"

**

* * *

**

So, that's it for now, hope you like it. (the cyber cookies offer still stands :D) Now our usual chara itroduction stuff:

**Takahashi Senpai - One of the teachers of class 1B. Teaches Japanese. (OC ness)**

**Tashiro & Hidaka - Two girls from teitan introduced in episode 361 (or vol. 44 ). Are said to be very talkative. It's not clear who is who, so I just did something.**

**I liked typing Ran in this chapter. She is very easy to write (don't ask why). Next chapter: Conan (Shinichi) and Ran meet, and Shinichi get's his first job as a Grim Reaper. What will happen?**

**...**

**Hattori: Sooo, when will you introduce me?**

**Me: At the funeral, along with Shin-Chan's parent's.**

**Kaito: What about me? Do I appear in your fanfic?**

**Me: Yeah, when YOU ARE CHASED BY A GIANT FISH! *makes a fish appear out of nowhere***

**Kaito: GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! *Runs away***

**Me: Kaito, wait! *Follows with the fish in her hand***

**Hattori: *roles with his eyes* **Morons.** Ah, don't forget to R&R plz.**

(Here is the botton, now hit it and review!)

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	3. Welcome

**SilverZone: Argatou Gozaimasu! **

**Anele1996: Let me guess, you're from 1996? Well, here you go! Hope you like it :P**

**.**

**Me: Thanx for your revieuws and faves, cybercookies for all of you!**

**Shinichi: Warning coming up, She's going to torture me even more...**

**Me: Well, ofcourse, torture is fun!**

**Shinichi: *Facepalm* You arleady said that once!**

**Me: And you already facepalmed once.**

**Hattori: And I'm making my first appearance! By the way, isn't it Disclaimer time?**

**Masago: Now really? *sighs* The author of this story is too lazy to write a Disclaimer and finds it rather stupid to do so, since this is a site for fanfics and it is logical she never owns any of the characters unless they're OC's.**

**Shinichi: Is that really nessecairy?**

**Me: Yup. And if you're done reading, REVIEW! *puts on a hypnotic melody that makes you review after reading and places a plate with fresh cybercookies* And of course, cybercookies for every reviewer!**

* * *

With big eyes Shinichi stared at the door of class 1B, sweat dropping down his forehead. Why was it so hot in here? He pulled his collar, that felt like it was way too tight and glanced at Takahashi sensei, who gave him a reassuring smile, but it didn't really make him feel better that he'd felt before.

"I'll go in, you just wait here till I come and get you." Takahashi sensei said and went in to the classroom, leaving Shinichi behind in the empty hallway.

Shinichi bit his lip and leant against the wall. Maybe he should run away right now, but where would he go? He couldn't face Masago, the man would be furious. Go to Agasa? No, even though he could easily make the professor realize who he was, but he had no explanation for his changed looks. Well, he could, but then he would be seen as a madman. Shinichi sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Edogawa-Kun?" Shinichi looked up at Takahashi sensei, who stood in front of him. "I think everyone's ready." She smiled and pointed at the open door that led to room 1B.

Shinichi nodded and stood up, swinging his bag over his shoulder while putting his other hand in his pocket. Then he slowly walked into the room, feeling the worried eyes of the sensei on his back. He stopped next to the teachers desk at the same time Takahashi sensei closed the door, and looked up to the class, thereby allowing himself a glance at their faces. As he took in their curious glances he straightened his back and stared at the ground.

"Class, I'd like you to welcome our new student." Takahashi sensei said to the class and turned around, now talking to Shinichi. "Could you please introduce yourself?" she said with a soft voice.

"Yeah." Shinichi muttered in reply. He sighed as he lifted his head. "I'm Edogawa Conan, nice to meet you." The class started to mutter and people started to give him weird stares, some seemed angry, some sad and some worried.

A chair scraped over the floor as a figure stood up. "I-I'm sorry, sensei, I… I have to go to the bathroom." Ran said, leaving in a rush knocking her chair down in the process. The whole class fell silent the moment she had closed the door behind her and Shinichi received another bunch of angry glares, making him feel awkward.

"Err, right, Mouri-San, but be back soon!" Takahashi Sensei said in surprise. "Then, anyone questions for our new student?" She continued, trying to keep the order, but obviously failing.

"I do." Sonoko stood up with an angry expression on her face. "Why are you here? And Why do you have the same voice as Kudou-Kun?"

Another boy with spiky brown hair and grey eyes stood up. Shinichi immediately recognized him as Aizawa, the captain of the soccer team, but the odd look on Aizawa's face made him take a step back.

"And how dare you to show up like this!" Aizawa yelled at him. "Do you think that's awesome?"

"I'm sorry then!" Shinichi angrily threw his bag in the corner and stormed over to Aizawa's table, smashing a fist on it when he arrived there. "What makes you even think I chose for this? I'd rather stay at home than coming here!"

"Then you should have stayed there!" Aizawa yelled at him angrily. Shinichi grabbed his collar and pulled him forwards so he could stare straight in to his eyes.

"Did you even think about what I could be going through?" He said, his voice loosing it's strength. "Did it even come to your mind that I could know Kudou or that I'm affected by what happened too?" even though he didn't want them to, tears ran down his cheeks, so he stared down, trying to hide his emotions. "I recently lost my parents, god damn it! Kudou was the only one left who was kind to me… And now he's gone too…" he loosened his grip on Aizawa's collar and walked out of the classroom.

"Edogawa-Kun, come back!" Takahashi's voice echoed through the hallway, but Shinichi ignored her. He had no intention of going back there.

* * *

"Class, silence please!" Takahashi sensei said as she came in to the classroom. Ran turned her eyes on the teacher, but couldn't keep her attention on the woman, so instead she stared outside. It had started to rain, something that matched with how she felt right now. While she stared outside Takahashi sensei continued: "I noticed you already heard, but today we have a new student. Please go easy on him, he already has a hard time himself." The sound of footsteps and an opening door echoed through the room, then Ran could faintly hear Takahashi's voice.

"Oh my god." Sonoko's voice made Ran look up at her, giving her a questioning look. Sonoko looked like she had seen a ghost: Her eyes were big and she stared in front of her, so Ran turned around to see where she was looking at. It was the new guy. He was tall, had an unusual dark skin and dark hair, but that was all she could see. He was standing next to the teachers desk, his head down and his schoolbag slumped over his left shoulder, his right in his pocket. This threw Ran off guard, though she had no idea why.

"Class, I'd like you to welcome our new student." Takahashi sensei said. Ran hadn't even noticed that she had walked over to her desk, she had been too caught up in the new boy, who somehow seemed familiar, though this was impossible, since Ran was sure she hadn't met him before.

"Could you please introduce yourself?" Sensei looked at the new student, who said something and then lifted his head. Ran gasped. The boy's face was an exact copy of Shinichi's. He even had the same cerulean blue eyes and wasn't it for the darker skin and the different haircut, Ran would have thought Shinichi had a twin he never told her about.

The boy sighed and closed his eyes, while slightly cocking his head. "I'm Edogawa Conan, nice to meet you." Ran bit her lip. Maybe going to school hadn't been a good idea, not now everything reminded her of him. She stood up, scraping her chair over the floor.

"I-I'm sorry, sensei, I… I have to go to the bathroom." Immediately when she had said that, Ran rushed out of the classroom, knocking the chair down in the process, but she didn't feel like picking it up. Her feet seemed to move on their own as she hurried trough the hallway, breathing heavily as she stopped near the lockers. She placed her hand against the cold metal door, trying to catch her breath when she felt something unfamiliar. Looking up she saw it was a decorated name plate and as she read the name that was on it she broke out in to tears.

"Shinichi, you BAKA!" She cried out while she started to sob, smashing her fist on the lockers door, denting it by the force of it. "Baka, why did you have to follow them!" Everything got blurry as tears spilled down her cheeks and she dropped down on her knees, holding on to the lockers door, _his _lockers door. "Why did you have to follow those shady guys." She kept sobbing for a what seemed a long time, then the sobs slowly turned to hiccups and another while later she fell silent, tears till welling up out of her eyes.

As time seemed to pass by Ran finally found the strength to stand up, slowly searching for the way to the shoe lockers. She should call for her mom, ask her to pick her up and bring her home. What had she been thinking? Going to school hadn't been a good plan after all. Suddenly Ran bumped in to someone. With a loud thud she fall on het butt.

"Oi, daijiyoubu ka?" That voice! Ran looked up, staring into the eyes of the exchange student.

"E-Edogawa-Kun." She muttered, suppressing the urge to scream Shinichi at him and blinked, trying to hide her tears. "Why aren't you in class?" Edogawa's eyes turned sad and the guy looked away as he stretched out his hand, offering to help her stand up.

"It's not like I wanted to be there in the first place." His voice was soft and filled with something that Ran found hard to describe, but she could sense the loneliness and despair in it, making her wonder what exactly he had been through. He looked back at her, eyes filled with pain. "Are you going to sit there forever?" Edogawa pulled up an eyebrow, remembering Ran of Shinichi even more than before.

"Oh, no." She said and took his hand, letting him pull her up with his own strength.

"So, skipping classes too?" Ran lifted her head and stared at Edogawa who opened a shoe locker and took out a pair of sneakers. They both were silent when he put them on and returned his slippers. "Do I really remind you of Kodou that much?" Edogawa looked at her, half closing the small cabinet in front of him.

Ran smiled sadly as she nodded. "I don't think that's a bad thing though, it's not your fault. I was just surprised and it became a bit too much for me…" her voice broke, so she kept quiet, waiting for Edogawa to reply. When she didn't hear anything she tried to continue. "You shouldn't." Edogawa looked at her in surprise.

"I shouldn't what?" He asked and lowered his head. "Going to school now is just too much for me. I just lost my parents, and with what happened to Kudou… I don't think I can handle it right now." Ran blinked in shock and her heart squeezed, but then she smiled as she wiped a tear away. Now she knew why he was so sad, but Edogawa was making the same mistake as she was.

"You shouldn't run away, Edogawa-Kun. Your parents would probably want you to stay strong. He would want me to stay strong too." She said and looked up, giving Edogawa a gentle smile. "Will you promise me? To stay strong?" Edogawa blinked, but then returned her smile, pulling off his sneakers again.

"I Promise, R-, Mouri-San." He said as he traded his shoes for the slippers and closed his shoe locker.

"Edogawa-Kun?" Ran dropped her hand, lowering her head a bit, not really knowing how to ask her question.

"Yeah?" Edogawa looked at her while the both returned to the class in a slow pace. Ran blushed, already feeling more at ease near the boy that reminded her of Shinichi so much and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Would you?" She looked at his face and then back at the ground, biting her lip. "Would you come to his funeral with me?" Suddenly Edogawa stood still. Ran spun around, afraid she said something wrong and saw him staring at the ground, looking more sad than before. When he looked up after what seemed like an eternity he gave her a smile.

"I guess I would." Ran sighed out of relief and she and Edogawa continued their walk. "And Mouri-San?"

Ran looked up. "What is it?"

Edogawa smiled as he seemed to gain more confidence. "You can call me Conan, if you want." This made Ran laugh.

"Then you can call me Ran." She replied with a warm smile that would linger for the rest of the day. Coming to school had been a good thing after all.

* * *

"WHERE THA HELL ARE YAH! AHOU! EVERYBODY IN SCHOOL'S WORRIED 'BOUT YAH!" a boy with a dark skin, black hair and green eyes cursed as he held his mobile away from his ear. God, why was Kazuha so annoying?

"I'M IN TOKYO! TOKYO, REMEMBER? AND I'M NOT AN AHOU, AHOU!" He yelled back at her, getting a large amount of stares from people that were passing by, just getting out of their plains or hurrying to catch their flights. There was a long moment of silence until Kazuha replied.

"Heiji, why're yah in Tokyo?" This surprised Hattori. At first because he thought she would explode, second because he was sure he mentioned it before.

"Didn' I tell yah? Dad transferred me ta Tokyo so I could help on tha Kudou case." The detective of the west grinned as he searched through the crowd of people. He didn't see anyone holding his name plate, which wasn't surprising, his plane had arrived a half hour earlier than expected.

"You're not goin' ta help on tha' case!" Kazuha sounded worried and angry when she said that, which made Heiji sigh. It wasn't like she was his mother, why was she worrying about him so much.

"Who said I'm ya mother, ahou!" Heiji swallowed, realizing he had spoken his thoughts out loud.

"Then stop actin' like one!" He replied, trying to cover up his mistake, but obviously failing. He looked around and sighed with relieve when he saw a clumsy looking man holding a paper with his name on it. At least he had a reason to escape from Kazuha's torture. "Ah, Kazuha. Got ta hang, ma drive just arrived. Bye!" Before she could reply he hang up and turned off his phone. Then he hurried over to the man who was looking around, pulling his hugnormous suitcase with him. 'Mom jus' had ta send me off with ma whole wardrobe…'

"And who are ya, if I may ask?" The clumsy man jumped up when Heiji spoke to him. His slightly tanned skin paling and his dark eyes widening.

"H-Hattor Heiji-Kun?" The man said, pulling his tie. He took a deep breath when Heiji nodded. "I, I am Takagi Wataru, I'll escort you to where you'll be staying and later bring you to the headquarters." Takagi gave him an insecure smile and laughed, scratching the back of his head. Heiji pulled up his eyebrow.

"Soo, when are we gonna go?" He asked, making Takagi jump again.

"Oh, right, follow me." He replied and walked away, leaving a surprised Heiji behind.

Heiji sweatdropped. 'This guy can' be serious.' Then he realized he was left behind. "Oi, wait for me!" He said and tried to run, but was being held back by his way too heavy suitcase. 'I'm so gonna kill Kaa-san for this when I'm back home!'

* * *

"Tadaima?" Shinichi said as he peeked around the corner of the door, but Masago was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and walked in to the house, entering the living room and dropping his bag on the table. School had been weird. True, first it seemed like hell, but after the 'incident' things seemed to go better, as he got to talk and laugh with Ran. He knew he couldn't linger around her too much tough, he was dead, after all. He started to unpack when he noticed a yellow post lying on the table. Curiously he picked it up.

_"Come to Souru, I want you to meet the crew. -Masago"_

Shinichi frowned. "The crew?" He sighed and made his way to the small bar downstairs that had the incredible suiting name souru. 'I mean really…' Shinichi thought. 'Going to a bar called soul to probably meet a bunch of other grim reapers?' He sighed as he reached the bottom of the stairs and walked over to the door of the bar. As he pushed it open the bell rung, letting the staff inside know a new customer had entered.

"Kid!" Masago waved at him. He was sitting in the corner with a group of other people who Shinichi didn't recognize, but who he would know soon. He slowly walked over to them, feeling uncomfortable as he sat down on the chair that Masago had shoved aside for him. "Took some time to get here." Masago pulled up an eyebrow. "Hanging around with some people after school?"

Shinichi felt his head turn red. "Ah, well, you could say that." He sweadropped. Actually the whole class had forced him to clean up since he was the newbie. If he hadn't gotten some help from Ran and a Protesting Sonoko he would have still been stuck there.

"He's so cute." A small woman with short brown hair and sparkling green eyes bend over the table to pinch Shinichi's cheek. He slightly pulled back when she did this, staring at her like she was crazy. "Where did you find this sweetie?" The woman's eyes turned to Masago, giving Shinichi a chance to observe her more carefully. The woman wasn't very tall, about 1.58 meters, with straight hair that barely reached her shoulders. She was wearing a simple blue dress and a type of shoes that nurses always seemed to wear, in a traditional white color. She was probably a nurse herself, but one that worked at the children's department.

"On the ground with a wound on his head." Masago replied calmly while he pulled out a big block of fluorescent yellow post it's. "Apparently he was poisoned after he was knocked down."

The woman gasped. "Poor thing." Her eyes turned big, filling with compassion and tears as her gaze turned back to Shinichi, looking like she wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be just fine.

"Easy Mine, he's not a baby." Another woman with a pale skin, raven black hair tied in to a knot and dark brown eyes said. Pushing back her silver framed glasses she stared at Shinichi. "I guess our little Kudou here would like some rest instead of being hugged to death." The small woman, whose name apparently was Mine, pouted at her but then gasped when she realized what had been said to her.

"You mean?" Her eyes went wide with disbelieve. "You mean Kudou Shinichi?" Shinichi felt his face turn red.

"Say it even louder and we can never show our faces here again." The foreign looking woman with curly blonde hair, dark sunglasses and completely black outfit spoke up, Making Mine literally fall out of her chair. When she sat down again she gave to woman an apologizing look.

"Sorry Arden-San." She looked down to her lap and pouted. "It's just…" Arden smiled, a smile that gave Shinichi the creeps, but he didn't say anything about it. Neither did the others, who just ignored it and went on eating their ordered lunch like they hadn't seen a thing.

"Gomen nasai, minna." A man with black, curly hair and dark eyes wearing a suit appeared next to Shinichi, dropping down on the bench that stood against the wall. "I know I'm late, but Megure-Keibu wanted me to finish some paperwork before I left." Then the man's eyes fall on Shinichi. "Oh my, aren't you that high school detective?" Shinichi looked around to see if anyone was staring and then nodded.

"Then I'll say nice to meet you, I'm Yokouchi Taiki." The man gave a slight nod, then bend forward. "But my colleagues know me as Shiratori Ninzaburo, so you don't have to remember that name in case we meet up on a case once." Taiki smiled and then turned to Masago, looking at him while he was writing something on the post it's.

"Here Taiki." Masago said as he handed Taiki three post it's, still writing another one while he did that. "Didn't stay here too long, it might get nasty." Taiki just nodded and stood up, already leaving when he looked over his shoulder.

"What's your new name kid?" Shinichi swallowed.

"Edogawa Conan." This made Taiki laugh as he turned around and walked away, leaving a surprised Shinichi behind.

"Arden, these are for you, and please make sure you aren't the one who kills them this time." Masago gave five post it's to Arden, who just gave him a sinister smile and stood up, taking the post it's with her.

"If I want to die, I'll do that." Arden replied with a smooth voice. "But I can't risk going against his orders, so I'll see. Bye bye, tantei!" She chuckled and then left too, the sound of her high heels slowly fading away. The woman with raven black hair looked where she went and then returned her gaze to Masago.

"When will you talk some sanity into that woman?" Her voice was filled with disgust and her lips were tightly pressed together. "We all know she's up to something, and that something isn't good."

Masago sighed and shoved a few post it's to her. "I agree with you, Ruri, but what can I do? That woman is playing with the devil. Stick your neck out and you'll get chopped to pieces."

Ruri snorted and picked up the post it's. "I have to go, I have a meeting with a client soon." Her eyes turned over to Mina who was toying around with her own post it's. "Don't act like a fool." She whirled around and rushed to the door.

Mine jumped up. "Kiyomizu-San, wait up." She ran away, waving goodbye to Shinichi and Masago.

"So, here is yours." Masago showed Shinichi a post it. It had a name, a time and a place written on it: Akiyoshi Fujie, 7.30 PM, Apartment Yoko Okino. Shinichi blinked.

"And, what am I supposed to do with it?" He looked at Masago questioningly. Masago sighed and rubbed his forhead.

"You have to reap his soul, of course."

* * *

**Me: Heiji!**

**Shinichi: You love him too much.**

**Me: Hai! Wakarimashita!**

**Masago: Translation: Yes! I know! *Stares at me***

**Me: Aw, that's annoying!**

**Shinichi: Really? Hmm, maybe I can find out a way to annoy you to death so you won't torture me again.**

**Me: And you said I was terrible? Soo, who has an idea what Arden's cover name is? If you read well, you should find out soon (not giving any hints).**

**.**

**As for the Chara itroduce section:**

**Aizawa - He is totally annoying and totally headstrong, but he has a heart on the right place. Character that is introduced in the same episode as Tashiro and Hidaka. Again, I don't have a clue as to who is who since he was introduced at the same time as Nakamichi, another male character who will be introduced later in the story.**

**Yokouchi Taiki - (Grim Reaper) An inspector also known as Shiratori :D. Cause of deat is still unknown.**

**Sugimori Mine - (Grim Reaper) A hyperactive nurse with a huge weaksness for children. Cause of death is still unknown.**

**Kiyomizu Ruri - (Grim Reaper) A lawyer that loves to obey the rules. She often thinks Mine is a small child and Arden a criminal (but who blames her for that?). Cause of deat is still unknown.**

**Arden Brown - (Grim Reaper) A foreighner that is known for killing people. (The person who can guess her cover name get's a preview of the next chapter :) ). Cause of deat is still unknown.**

***Puts the hypnotic melody off* Now review! The button is right there!**

(It's down here, now hit it and review!)

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	4. Funeral

**Kaito of The Dawn - Jay, thanx. To be honest, I'm not sure where this is going myself, but I already made up an ending (which is not going to happen soon ;P). Mochiron, I mean, c'mon! Blonde hair and black outfit? kinda obvious, isn't it?**

**SilverZone - Thanx, made a mistake with his name though, found out his real name is Nakamichi... Ah well, I'll update it later! And yeah, Shiratori is a Grim Reaper! I wanted someone other than our friend Vermouth to be on the team. At first I thought of making Takagi one, but then decided I wanted him to have a relation with Satou. Then Shiratori popped up in my head, and he actually is a good choise too (I think). I know he eventually gets a relationship with Kobayashi Sensei, but I already know what to do with that (Don't hate me if you eventually read it).**

**WildAwesomeGirl - You'll see! (and so will I)**

**Solera and Crythos - If it was Yukiko, then Shinichi would be half Grim Reaper (or adopted) and that wouldn't be fun for the story... Here you get more!**

**Darth Nezumi - He is, isn't he? At first I wasn't sure, but then I was watching a few episodes with him in them, and I realised I loved the idea of him having some dark secret :D And yay for the obviousness. She completely fits the role too, since Jodie asked her once: Why don't you age? And Grim Reapers don't age! :D**

**kid2150 - Thanx and yup! **

**.**

**Me: Ittekimasu! Arigatou for all you revieuws, it makes me really happy! **

**Masago: Translation of the Japanese words: I'm back! Thanks...**

**Shinichi: Go on Masago. Ohayou gozaimasu, Konnichi wa, Konban wa, Oyasumi Nasaii!**

******Magago: Good morning, good day, good evening, good night!**

**********Me: ばんざい! 日本語です!**

**Masago: Banzai! Nihongo desu! (Hooray! It's Japanese!)**

**Shinichi: Please no! Tell me it's disclaimer time!**

**Masago: Do the disclaimer yourself! *Walks away***

* * *

He would tell her today, he was sure of it. After all this time he would tell her how he felt and the reason he had broken up with her, the biggest mistake of his whole life. Why had he even listened to that stupid manager of her (what was his name again?) if he knew he would hurt himself even more than he'd hurt her. Truth was, he never really got over her. He sighed and stared at plate above the doors to the elevator that showed him it was now on the 20th floor, which meant he'd have to wait at least another seven minutes, if not longer. He leant against the wall and let his head drop down, biting his tongue.

An old woman walked over to him and gave a glance at the elevator. "This thing is so terribly slow." She sighed and rubbed her left shoulder. "If I wasn't so old I would take the stairs." She looked up to the man behind her. "What makes a young boy like you wait for the elevator?"  
"Visiting my ex on the 25th floor and I don't feel like walking." He replied and tapped with his foot. Why would it matter if he waited for the elevator? It was his own choice! The old woman lifted an eyebrow.  
"That is a waste of your youthful spirit. You should take the stairs, walking makes you fit and keeps you healthy until you become old like me." She said and gave him a generous smile. "Tell me son, what is your name?" Now it was his time to raise an eyebrow. What the hell was she thinking asking him things like that?  
"Akiyoshi Fujie." He answered. "Why do you want to know though? I don't see the need of it." His voice was filled with annoyance.  
The old woman laughed. "That's because I hate to be unpersonal, Akiyoshi-San." A loud ping sounded and the doors to the elevator slipped open. Fujie sighed and entered the elevator, followed by the old woman who started to talk about her grandchildren. He didn't pay attention to her and just gave her a slight nod when she exited the elevator on the fifth floor, then spacing off again, thinking of ways to make up with her. "Stupid manager."

It seemed a while before he finally got off on the 25th floor, and when he got there he'd already lost his patience. Somehow he'd been on edge the whole day, constantly snapping at people without having a reason to do so. He sighed and let his feet lead the way. He'd seen Yoko on this floor for sure, but he still had no clue what the number of her apartment was.  
"Ano, sumimasen?" His head shot up and he gave the boy who had interrupted his thoughts a furious glare.  
"What?" She snapped at him, but immediately regretted it when he saw the teens dark skin pale and his blue eyes widen in surprise, opening and closing his mouth like he was a fish trying to catch a breath when he got on the shore.  
"Err, well, are you maybe Akutsu Kousuke?" The boy looked down, nervously scratching his cheek that, like the other one, had turned slightly red and bit his lip.  
Fujie relaxed and counted to ten, trying to calm himself. What had he been thinking scolding the boy like that when he'd done nothing wrong? He smiled apologizing. "No, sorry, I can't help you."  
The boy looked shocked and embarrassed, bend forward and turned even more red than before. "Gomen nasai!" He said and then straightened his back, placing his hand behind his head, giving Fujie an apologizing look. "It's just, I was told to give him a message, but the person only told me he Akutsu-San lived in this flat, but there seem to be several Akutsu's here and the guard didn't seem to know of them were called Takumi." He laughed nervously, making Fujie feel bad for him. He quickly glanced at the man behind the boy, then returned his look at the boy.  
"Well, I don't live here, I'm just visiting an old friend of mine." He replied to the boy and shook his head. Maybe if he talked to Yoko, she could help him.  
"Thank you for your time then…" The boy paused for a minute and then smiled. "I just realized I don't know your name." Fujie lifted an eyebrow. How many people where going to ask him for his name today? He decided to be polite.  
"Akiyoshi Fujie." The boy's smile widened as he took Fujie's hand and shook it. His hand was warm and his touch made Fujie's skin tingle.  
"Edogawa Conan." The tingly sensation went away when they dropped each other's hand. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime soon." Fujie just nodded and turned around, walking away from him as fast as possible. Something about the kid seriously freaked him out. When the kid seemed out of sight he slowed his pace, looking around only to spot an open door with a female…

"Yoko!" He said, placing his hand on Okino Yoko's shoulder. Upon his touch she shrieked and pushed him out of the way, running away from him. Anger spilled over and Fujie growled. "You'll pay for running away from me!" He slammed the door behind him, various thoughts going around in his head.  
"She'll pay for this."

* * *

"Cut the ties to his body, wait till the person dies and his soul escapes from the body, help his soul cross over." Shinichi said for what seemed like a thousand times that evening. "Right, I got it." He nodded once and leaned his back against the wall, looking at the watch Masago had given him. 6.30 pm, which meant another hour till the man called Fujie would die, and he hadn't shown up yet.  
"Patience." Masago gave a glance to Shinichi and sighed. "It starts with patience, boy. Calm down and observe." A gentle smile spread across his face, his eyes going soft as he stared in to nowhere.  
"Patience." Shinichi whispered, his head bend forward so his hair covered his eyes. Then he looked up, a confident smile on his face. "And observation." At the moment he said that a heavy build man with dark brown hair walked in to the hallway where Shinichi and Masago were standing. His head was bend forward, his shoulders slumped and he walked in a slow pace.  
Shinichi looked up at Masago, who nodded, and thus Shinichi started with his plan. "Ano, sumimasen?" He said to the man passing by. In return he got a furious glare."What?" The man spit at him, but immediately looked like he regretted doing it.

"Err, well, are you maybe Akutsu Kousuke?" He pretended to feel slightly nervous and scratched his cheek, biting his lip to make the picture complete.  
The man seemed to relax, smiling apologizing. "No, sorry, I can't help you."  
Shinichi put on a shocked face and then bend forward. "Gomen nasai!" He straightened his back and put his hand behind his head. "It's just, I was told to give him a message, but the person only told me he Akutsu-San lived in this flat, but there seem to be several Akutsu's here and the guard didn't seem to know of them were called Kousuke." He laughed a bit nervously, trying to keep up his act.  
"Well, I don't live here, I'm just visiting an old friend of mine." The man replied, shaking his head.  
"Thank you for your time then…" Shinichi paused and smiled. "I just realized I don't know your name." The man pulled up an eyebrow, sighed, and then held out his hand.  
"Akiyoshi Fujie." Shinichi's smile widened as he took Fujie's hand and shook it, a warm and tingly feeling spreading from his heart to his arm, eventually reaching the hand that held Fujie's and for a moment Fujie seemed to glow.  
"Edogawa Conan." They dropped each other's hand. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime soon." Fujie just nodded and turned around, walking away from him. Shinichi just stared at where he had gone for a little while, silence hanging around him.

"Your acting was pretty good." Masago said as he put his hand on Shinichi's shoulder. "Now all we have to do is wait." Their stomachs growled in unison, making the both of them burst out in to laughter.  
"And we should eat while doing so. Maybe Toichi is home." Masago turned around to the stairways and looked over his shoulder, giving Shinichi a warm smile. "It's best to be around when 'it' happens and Toichi happens to live in apartment number 2505, so we can go there hand have dinner."  
Shinichi nodded and then frowned. "What about that Akutsu Kousuke you told me to ask about?"  
"Ah!" Masago laughed and turned around, walking over to the door of an apartment which number Shinichi couldn't see. "That, my boy, is Toichi's cover name." He knocked on the door and after a few seconds it flew open, revealing a very familiar looking man.

"Masago-San, what a pleasant surprise! Come in, come in!" Masago smiled as the man took a step aside so he could walk in, and shook his head.  
"Not so fast, Toichi. First I want to introduce you to someone." Masago looked over his shoulder at Shinichi, who got the clue and walked over to him immediately. "Kuroba Toichi, meet Edogawa Conan, or Kudou Shinichi." Toichi blinked in surprise when he saw Shinichi.  
"You know, you look exactly like my son Kaito, though his hair is messier and he has a different eye color than you." He smiled and made way for them. "I'd love to hear more about you, so come in!" Masago nodded and entered his apartment, shortly followed by Shinichi.

Shinichi looked around in the small apartment, that was just big enough to live there on your own, but was cozy nonetheless. He followed Masago and Toichi to the living room where they sat down at the table that was filled with bags with food.  
Masago pulled up an eyebrow. "Do you always eat so much?"  
Toichi sweat dropped. "No, I fall asleep after getting home from getting groceries. Just one minute and I'll put them away." He lifted a few bags and walked out of the room, then came back a few minutes later, taking the rest. "Do you maybe want to eat something? I haven't had dinner yet, so I'm going to cook something."  
"That would be nice, we were just here on business, so we haven't eaten ourselves." Masago said as he patted Shinichi's head.  
"Business huh?" Toichi raised an eyebrow. "That's new, you never showed me how to do things when I was new to this." He turned around shaking his head. "He must be special to you then." He looked over his shoulder.  
Masago snorted. "Don't make anything out of it. You were an adult, he wasn't!" Toichi laughed and walked out of the room. After a few minutes the scent of meat, potatoes and beans filled the air, making Shinichi's stomach complain even more. Masago gave him an amused look and snorted again.

* * *

A scream woke them up, making Shinichi jump up instantly, "What was that?" He turned around and looked at the clock, feeling his heart sink as he realized it was 8 pm already. "Damn!" He muttered, before running out of the room into the hallway. How irresponsible of him, falling asleep when he needed to look out for the spirit of the man who's soul he had reaped. It made him feel clumsy, when had he fallen asleep anyway? He didn't remember being tired.  
"Ran, call the police!" The calm words echoed throughout the hallway, making him stand still when he saw Kogoro and Ran, standing in front of an appartment door with a shocked Yoko, who was hugging her manager and sobbing wildly.

Ran nodded and pulled out her cellphone, her hands shaking as she dialed a number, "M-Megure-Keibu? W-we found a body. Yeah, in Yoko Okino's appartment. Allright, bye." She said, her voice shaky, and hang up the phone, looking at her dad, "He'll be here soon, he just has to wrap up a few things and then he'll be here," Kogoro nodded.  
"Good, then in the meantime..." he fall silent as he spotted Shinichi checking up the body, his eyes widening slightly, but then he started to get red, ""  
Oi, brat, what are you doing!" He grabbed Shinichi's collar and pulled him back, staring at his face, then freezing in shock.  
Shinichi chuckled nervously, "Err, hi?"  
"Conan-Kun?" Ran blinked at him, a questioning look on her face, "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting me." Everybody turned around as Toichi appeared in the door opening, "What is it with you and wanting to solve cases, Co-Chan?" He cuckled playfully, putting his hands in his pockets.  
Shinichi freed himself from Kogoro's grasp and stood up, "What's wrong with me wanting to solve a case? I _am _good at it, you know." He said, then turning around at the crime scene, ignoring the spirit of the man who's body was lying on the floor that was looking at him in shock. "I can already tell you about the things that are suspicious. First, the chair!" he pointed at the chair in the middle of the room, "It's the only one standing up straight, which is weird seen the rest of the mess made in this room. Then there are the waterdrops near the body. Why are there waterdrops? It's also weird that it's so warm in here." He pulled his collar, then looked at Yoko. "Did you forget to put it off or something?"

Yoko shook her head, "No, I'm fairly sure It wasn't on when I left this morning." she said softly.  
Shinichi nodded and returned his gaze to the body, suddenly noticing something. He bend down, staring at the floor. _'A dent?' _He frowned, glancing up at Fujie's spirit, who was still speechless. 'Suicide?'  
"K-Kudou-Kun?" Shinichi froze, then slowly looked over his shoulder at the shocked and confused Megure-Keibu, who was standing in the doorway.  
"Err, no." Shinichi stood up, scratching his head, "Edogawa Conan, nice to meet you." Megure looked at him, a little surprised. Then his eyes landed on Kogoro and annoyance passed his face.  
"You here too?" He muttered, ignoring Kogoro's "Hi." and "Long time no see, Keibu-Domo!" as he walked over to Shinichi, staring at the body. "How aweful, must be a nasty death. Any idea who could have done it?"

"He himself." Everybody in the room looked at Shinichi when he said that, a serious look plastered on his face as he looked down at the body. "First he messed up the room, making it look like a fight, then he prepared a knife he stuck in a block of ice and jumped from the chair to end his own life, which is the cause of the dent in the floor. The waterdrops are the result from the ice melting due to the high temperature." he bend forward, pointing at the hair strands in his hands. "He also took Yoko's hair, probably from a hair brush, to frame her, but the stab from the knife was fatal, so there's no way he could have pulled them from her head in his final moments."  
Megure gave him a surprised look, before observing the body and realizing everything Shinichi had told him was true, "Thats... amazing, Edogawa-Kun, was it?" He looked up at Shinichi, who nodded, "You're at least as fast as Kudou-Kun was, maybe even faster..." He fall silent, clearly surpressing a sob, then continued after a few breaths, "But that doesn't explain why..."

"Love." Shinichi whispered those words, "He did it because he loved Yoko. I met him earlier, Akiyoshi Fujie-san. He seemed troubled, and he looked like he regretted something." A sad smile appeared on his face as he looked up at Fujie, "Love and some stupid mistake. It's all it takes to do the wrong thing. Love can really make us do anything."

* * *

Shinichi stared at Ran as she tugged him along in to the room where the goodbye ceremony was held. Her eyes were red and she looked like she'd been crying, but like always she tried to hide it from him, acting like nothing was going on and just putting up her fake smile.  
"Our chairs are here." Ran said, pointing at a few seats in the front row. Shinichi stared at her nervously as she pushed him into the nearest chair and sat down next to him while taking a deep sigh, then giving him a sad smile. "I hope I don't make it too hard for you."  
Shinichi's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. "No, don't worry about it, It's ok." He gave her a fake smile and looked away to see if he recognized someone. The room was already stuffed with people, most of them being from the metropolitan police station, but he also saw a lot of classmates and a few family members he had never really spoken to.

"Ran-Kun, how are you doing?" Conan looked around to see Agasa Hakase standing close to Ran. His back was turned to him, so he couldn't see his face, but he noticed his shoulders were slumped and he was playing with some kind of weird toy he was holding behind his back.  
Ran gave him a sad smile. "I'm fine, I guess." She stared at Shinichi for a second and then continued to look at Agasa. "Luckily I have Sonoko and here Conan to support me." She reached out for Shinichi's hand and pulled him closer so Agasa could see him too.

Agasa blinked several times as he was introduced to him. "Have we met before?" He said, looking at Shinichi from up close. Shinichi swallowed nervously and gave him a hesitating smile.  
"I don't think so, though Kudou told me a lot about you." He said quickly. "He told me you are an inventor." Agasa gave him an approving nod while Shinichi tried to continue. "And that you are a wacky one too, since you believe your inventions are terrific but most of them explode in your face." Agasa gave him an offended look and coughed, making Ran giggle.  
"Well, I'm sorry for you he thought that way." Agasa replied, folding his arms. Then he held out the toy he'd been playing with earlier and Shinichi saw it was a bowtie. "Here, try this out." He said and looked at Shinichi with a smug smile on his face while he and Ran stared at the bowtie with a questioning look in their eyes.

Shinichi looked up at Agasa, pulling up and eyebrow and holding up the bowtie. "What is it?"  
Agasa smiled. "That, boy, is a voice chancing bowtie." He turned the bowtie around, showing a complicated looking mechanism. "Twist this little wheel here and you can change your voice in to any voice you want it to sound like."  
"Sugoi, Agasa-San." Ran said while Shinichi tested the bowtie that actually seemed to work for once. "I don't get why Shinichi would ever say your inventions are worthless, you should do something with this!"

"Ahum!"  
Everybody looked up to see Kudou Yukiko, who folded her arms and tapped with her foot the minute she got the attention on her. "I would prefer it if you wouldn't show your inventions at my son's funeral, we're not holding a party here!" Her voice broke and she started to sob, thick tears running down her face. "I had expected at least you would understand, Agasa-San."  
"Now now, dear." Kudou Yuusaku appeared behind her and put his arms around Yukiko's shoulders. "Shinichi wouldn't want you to be angry at them for having a bit of fun, now would he." His eyes went over Agasa, Ran and settled on Shinichi. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and shook his head. "Excuse me, I don't remember knowing you…" He fall silent as he frowned, stepping away from his wife to see Shinichi from up close. "You look a lot like Shinichi…" He looked at Shinichi more carefully, making the boy feel awkward "But at the same time you remind me of Takagi Keiji! Could you tell me your name?"  
Shinichi swallowed. "Err." He looked down at his shoes. "I-I'm Edogawa Conan." Someone gasped and Yukiko pushed Yuusaku aside, staring at Shinichi with her incredible blue eyes that were still red from crying. Suddenly she pinched him, pulling his cheeks until they were red. Then she let go, turning around and walking away from him.  
Angrily, Shinichi jumped up from his chair. "Where was the hell was that for!" He yelled at her back, rubbing his cheeks, but he didn't get a reply.  
"I think she hoped you secretly were Shinichi." Yuusaku said as he looked after his wife. "Even though she tries to hide it she's devastated." He turned to Shinichi and smiled. "And you really look like him, even sound like him." He winked once. "Don't be surprised if she wants to adopt you." He patted Shinichi's shoulder and followed his wife.

"Well, I should go to my seat now." Agasa said and started to walk away when he realized something. "Ah, you can keep the bowtie, Conan-Kun." He said with a sad smile. "I planned to put it on Shinichi's coffin, but I think you'll have more use to it." He scratched the back of his head. "I still have flowers for him though. I'll probably see you two afterwards." With a last wave of his hand he said goodbye to the two, leaving Ran with a lighter heart, but Shinichi in even more despair than before.

* * *

"Oi, Takagi, was i'?" Hattori said as he followed the cop to the big room where they were holding the ceremony of the funeral, not that there was much to bury, except for some ashes. "Yah sure I can come wi' yah?" He stared at the clumsy officer, who he wondered ever got on the corpse at all, he messed up with nearly everything he did.  
Takagi nodded. "As long as you don't run around asking questions until they're finished." He looked at his watch and jumped in surprise, tripping over his feet and nearly falling down. Hattori sweat dropped at his clumsiness. This man seriously couldn't do anything good. "Hattori-Kun, we have to make room, they nearly finished the ceremony." The police officer said quickly as he tried to restore himself and quickly walked away from the large red wooden door of the small temple, just in time for the guests to start coming out.  
No, not guests, eight man with high hats holding a coffin, then followed by a crying brown haired woman whom Hattori recognized as Kudou Yukiko, the deceased boy's mother, and a man who looked calm, but at the same time tired and broken, who was probably the father, Kudou Yuusaku. It was then that the guests followed, the most of them probably being family members and classmates. Hattori observed them as they left. The crying faces, angry mutters and sad smiles betraying the love for their cousin, nephew, grandson and friend.

Just after all seemed to have left Takagi sighed and started to walk over to Hattori, only to bump into someone exiting the temple, making both fall on the ground.  
"Conan-Kun." A young girl ran out and kneeled down next to the boy Takagi had bumped into, giving him a worried look as he rubbed his head and groaned softly "Daijiyoubu?" She asked as she helped the boy stand up, receiving a nod from the boy.  
Takagi stood up clumsily, nearly falling down again while he scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry." He walked over to the boy and looked at him, suddenly freezing in shock as if the boy's face had surprised him. This made Hattori wonder if Takagi had known someone who looked like him, though that wouldn't explain why he would freeze up. Unless… unless he looked like a dead person.  
The boy chuckled, his head bend forward so Hattori couldn't tell what he looked like, which frustrated him because he wanted to see the boy's face. "It's ok, you go and follow the rest."  
The girl gave him another worried look. "Can you find it on your own? You might get lost." She seemed a bit lost, torn between several decisions  
"I don't think I want to see them bury the remains anyway, so it's ok, just follow them Ran." The girl frowned at Conan, then nodded.  
"You have my cell number, so if you want to go home, just call me and I'll ask Agasa-San to give me a ride." She muttered, hugging Conan tightly before running after the others, getting an annoyed look from another girl with short brown hair.

"You're Hattori Heiji, aren't you?" Hattori looked up at Conan, who stared straight at him, and Hattori couldn't help but relize how much he looked like Kudou Shinichi, the reason he came to Tokyo in the first place. No wonder Takagi had been shocked, he had known the boy personally. While thinking this Hattori also relized how much the boy resembled Takagi-Kun. Were they related? He would find out sooner or later.  
"Tha's mey!" He replied, frowning, "Somethin wrong?"  
Conan shook his head, "No, but I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind." he said, and beckoned to follow him back in to the temple.  
Hattori smiled, "I'm all ear."

* * *

**Me: That's all folks! Sorry it took me so long, but I got some major writing blocks...**

**Hattori: Hug? =3**

**Me: Wah? **

**Kaito: Hug? =3**

**Me: Eh?**

**Kaito + Hattori: HUG! =3**

**Me: Waah! *runs away***

**Kaito: High five?**

**Hattori: *shrugs* Why no' ? *High fives with Kaito* An' don' forget ta subcribe y'all!**

(Here is the botton, now hit it and review!)

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	5. Adoption?

**Kaddy 16 - Wow, you are the most ispiring reviewer ever! Where do you get your tekst from? Such insiring words =3...**

**...**

**Me: ={**  
**Conan: ?**  
**Me: I'm forgotten!**  
**Conan: Well, you did take a while to update -.-'**  
**Me: not on purpose! I was just stuck with the plot and stuff!**  
**Conan: Just start the story already...**  
**Masago: She doesn't own DC, since she isn't Gosho Aoyama**

* * *

"Men i' black, yah say?" Heiji asked, lifting his glass, but not drinking from it.  
Shinichi nodded, "Yeah, I've asked around and they seem the most suspicious, though if they are responsible for killing Kudou and making the scene they left explode, they must be very dangerous." He fell silent and shook his head, not sure if it had been a wise decision to involve Heiji in this. It was dangerous, too dangerous, and he didn't want to be the cause of the guys death. But then, could someone die before their time? He'd never asked, but it seemed un-logical that it wasn't possible.

Heiji sighed, "Well, de're always nasty ones ou' dere." he gulped down his drink, then placed his empty glass on the table and folded his arms behind his head, leaning against the back of his chair, "Yah can' let 'em bring yah down, dey 'ave ta be dealt with." He grinned, "An' see i' dis way, tha' Kudou guy deserves 'is justice!"  
Shinichi felt slightly annoyed, wasn't he more than just that Kudou guy? But then he decided to smile, "That Kudou guy would probably think you're a moron."  
Heiji gave him a faint glare before grinning, "Maybe I am, yah got a problem wih tha'?" He looked up, a smug expression on his face.

"No I don't." Shinichi replied, standing up, "But we need to go to the end of the reception. M... Shinichi's parents organized a big banquet for at the end, and I don't want to be even more rude and miss that too." He put his hands in his pockets, staring down at the Osakan, "Whether you want to go is your choice, though I don't know if they appreciate a stranger coming with me." Heiji grinned and stood up.  
"I'll take da risk." He said, smiling at Shinichi. He then followed him outside where a nervous Takagi was waiting for them. The man gave a quick glance towards Shinichi, still embarrassed about his mistake earlier, and scratched his head, giving them a nervous smile.

"So, err.." he muttered, "Where now, Hattori-Kun?" His eyes darted towards Hattori, a bit hopefully and questioning at the same time.  
"To da after ceremony, I'm followin' Edogawa." Heiji replied, patting Shinichi on his shoulder, who gave him an annoyed glare,  
"Oh." Takagi looked away, seemingly a bit disappointed at the Osakan's answer. Shinichi could tell being around him made the guy nervous, but then that was to be expected.  
"Yeah, right. Then follow me please." He said, turning around and walking towards the parking lot, where a lot of people where gathering. He looked around, searching for Agasa, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, Conan-Kun, I was wondering where you were." Shinichi looked up at the man he had been searching for, who looked at him with a generous smile.  
"Ah, Hakase, I was looking for you." Shinichi said, nodding towards Takagi and Heiji, "See, I wondered if you could take some people with you to the restaurant we are visiting now."  
"Ah, that won't be a problem." Agasa replied, turning to the others, "Takagi-Kun, wasn't it? I remember meeting you once."  
Takagi nodded, "Yes, and this is Hattori Heiji." he pointed at Heiji, who gave a polite nod.  
"Well, nice to meet you. Please follow me, my car is over there." Agasa said, taking the two with him. Shinichi stared at where they went to, seeing them step in to Agasa's familiar yellow beetle.

"Do you need a ride?" Shinichi looked up at his mother, who's eyes were still red and puffy from the tears she had cried.  
"No, it's fine." He smiled faintly with a sad look in his eyes, staring up at the sky, that was filled with grey clouds. It would be raining soon, maybe even pouring, probably with some thunder and lightning too. "I'll find them." Determination filled his face as he looked back at his mother, who gave him a surprised look, "The people who killed him." His mother's eyes grew sad.  
"You are as reckless as he was." She muttered, shaking her head, looking away, "But, seeing you two are the same type of person, I know I can't stop you." She looked up at Shinichi, "Please be careful."  
"I will." Shinichi replied, feeling a raindrop land on his cheek, and put his hands in his pockets, a confident smirk on his face.  
Yukiko gave him a shocked look, then bend her head as her tears started to mix with the raindrops, "I see," She smiled, "I heard your story from Ran." It was starting to rain hard now, but it didn't seem to matter to the two of them,

"You can live in the mansion."  
Shinichi blinked, "What?" He said in surprise.  
Yukiko chuckled, "You heard me, you can have the mansion for yourself." She looked up, beaming a bright smile at him, "But there is one rule, you have to call me Kaasan!" She held out the keys to him and dropped them in him hands, turning around. "See you later, Co-Chan!" With that she walked away, a certain confidence in her footsteps that he hadn't seen earlier.  
Shinichi sweatdropped, shaking his head, "She never changes." He said with a sigh and stared up to the sky again, feeling the raindrops run down his face. He closed his eyes, enjoying how it felt. If he could choose he would have stayed there forever, the rain pouring down on him, soaking him through and through. But the rain would stop once and the sun would take his place and he too had to move on.

"Conan-Kun, are you coming?" Ran said as she walked over to him, holding an umbrella, "You're soaking wet! Here!" She searched through her bag and pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to him.  
Shinichi smiled as he took it, blushing slightly when their hands touched each other, "Thank you," he muttered, trying to hide the redness that was spreading across his face.  
"You're not getting a fever, are you?" She held out her hand to check Shinichi's head, "Doesn't seem like it, you aren't warm."  
Shinichi felt himself turn red, "It's probably nothing!" he said, holding up his hand behind his head.

Ran looked over her shoulder when a car passed them, "I think dad is getting a bit inpatient, so we should hurry up!" She chuckled, then fell silent, wiping away a tear, a sad smile on her face.  
Shinichi gave her a concerned look, "Come." He said, leading her back towards the car Kogoro had rented.

The ride towards the restaurant was silent, the air filled with tension. Sonoko had joined them on their ride, something that surprised Shinichi. He hadn't seen her during the service, but according to Ran she had been stuck in traffic with her driver, who then left her afterwards, so she needed a lift. Sonoko had tried several times to start a conversation, mostly with Ran, but also involving Shinichi and Kogoro. All her tries had failed though, and after several times she had given up, staring out of the window with an annoyed expression on her face.  
Shinichi didn't mind the silence, he actually liked it. In those moments of silence he could think, think about what he'd do about his mother, think what he could do to find those men in black, but he hadn't been able to find his answers yet, on both items.

"You know, this is so irritating!" Sonoko said, looking around at the other three, "I know ,Shinichi is dead but he wouldn't want us to cry about it! He'd want us to move on and have some fun with our lives!" She folded her arms, looking out of the window again.  
"Sonoko." Ran stared at her, her eyes filled with worry.  
"I can't take it anymore!" Sonoko cried, burying her face in her hands, "I just can't take it anymore!" Everybody looked at her as she burst out into loud sobs, completely surprised by her behavior.  
"Sonoko!" Ran muttered, placing her hand on Sonoko's shoulder, trying to help her best friend but not knowing what to do with her.  
"He would." Now everyone looked at Shinichi, who was staring out of the window. "He would want us to move on." His eyes followed the trails the raindrops left on the window, "But he would also expect us to have a hard time dealing with it, he's seen enough death to know that it isn't exactly an easy thing to lose the ones you care about." He glanced over his shoulder at the surprised faces of Ran and Sonoko, "What?"

"Nothing!" Ran sweatdropped and looked away, a blush spreading over her face while Sonoko gave him an annoyed look.  
Shinichi pulled up an eyebrow, "You're sure it isn't?".  
"When it's nothing, it's nothing, Edogawa, stop asking!" Sonoko said, her arms folded, "Looks like dead guy and then asks what's wrong! Pfft, guys!" she muttered, placing her head in her hand and looking outside again.

Kogoro coughed, "You might want to step out of the car now, we're at the restaurant already."  
"Yeah." Shinichi said, opening the door and walking in to the rain again,  
"Shi- Ah… Conan-Kun, chotto mate!" Ran said, following him outside and quickly putting up the umbrella, "You should really stop doing that, you know. You might get seriously ill one day!" she said as she caught up with him, putting the umbrella over their heads. Then she looked away, her cheeks a bit red, "I'm sorry for that, it's just.." She paused, her cheeks getting more red, "It's just you remind me of him so much." A sigh escaped her throat.  
"I'm sorry." Shinichi muttered, his head bend forward so his hair covered his eyes, "I-I didn't mean to…" His voice broke and he looked away, too embarrassed.

"Minna!" Sonoko ran over to then, quickly joining them under the umbrella, "How dare you leaving me alone like that, all alone, without umbrella, getting wet!" She said, sighing dramatically, "Maybe you don't want me anymore!" She faked a sob, making Ran smile sadly.  
"Mou, Sonoko." She said, shaking her head.  
Shinichi smiled and looked over his shoulder, "Why don't you two take it easy and chat for a while? I'll see you later!" He said, giving a quick nod then running to the restaurant, hoping he wouldn't bump into someone who had met 'Conan'.

Inside it seemed like there were even more guests then at the burial itself, but maybe that was because it was smaller, he couldn't tell and he hadn't counted the faces before, though it didn't seem there were any new ones. His eyes wandered through the room, looking for someone familiar when he heard footsteps and two arms wrapped around him, someone pressing their face against his back, but Shinichi already knew who it was.  
"You don't mind, do you?" She said softly, her tears making his shirt wet.  
"Yukiko." His father's voice said from behind him, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Why not? Give me one reason, Yuusaku!" Yukiko protested, pressing Shinichi even tighter to her chest, "He has nobody!"  
Yuusaku sighed, "Adopting him won't help bringing Shinichi back, besides, you have to ask him first!" Yukiko slowly let Shinichi go, then spinned him around, grabbing him by his arms and looking into his eyes. Nervously he looked back into hers, swallowing as he saw her eyes widen slightly and she looked away.  
"Can we?" Shinichi blinked, had she just asked him permission?

"Err…" He sweatdropped, "Huh?"  
Yukiko gave him an annoyed glare, "Can we adopt you?" Shinichi blinked, silenced by her words. So she did want to adopt him, he should have seen it coming.  
"Err, I… I don't know." He stuttered.  
"You don't have to answer that one." Yuusaku said, placing his hand on his wife's shoulder, "It's a question that shouldn't be asked."  
"No, it's okay." Shinichi replied, shaking his head, "Now, please excuse me.." He quickly walked away, the voices of his parents following him through the room. Where was Hattori when you needed him?

* * *

Shinichi sighed as he stepped out of Agasa's small beetle, looking up at the mansion he hadn't seen for several days. Would he be ready to live there again? After all that happened, could he set foot in the house he had lived all his life? At least it would be better than living with Masago, staying with the man made him miss living on his own, not that he saw him often. Masago was or out working (which practically meant him sitting behind a desktop doing practically nothing and writing out more post it's for reaper jobs) or sleeping. Man, the man could sleep, it was like it was the only thing he could do.

Shinichi sweatdropped at the idea and shook his head, turning around to look at Agasa, "Thanks for the ride." He said with a faint smile.  
"It's no problem!" the professor replied, "Since it's next door it would only be a natural thing to do!"  
"Well, I'll see you around then." Shinichi said with a nod, taking out the bag of clothes that Masago had bought for him, but that was also stuffed with his books, then walked off to the gates as Agasa rode back to his house.  
Shinichi smiled sadly as he opened the gate, the iron squeaking as it swung open. Slowly he walked onto the path towards the house, the gravel on the path crackling underneath his feet, and fished the keys from his pocket. He then opened the front door, nostalgia overwhelming him as the scent of Indian jasmine filled his nose.

But as the nostalgia hit him, the sound of hasty footsteps made him freeze up as instantly, "Who's there?" He frowned as he heard soft whispers and more footsteps before it went silent. With his hand he started to search for the light switch, which he couldn't see in the darkness, and dropped his bag near his feet, "I know you're there, show yourself!" he started to grin as his hand found the light switch. Quickly he pulled it down, the light switching on, revealing three kids who were hiding underneath a table in the middle of the hallway near the stairs. "You guys know it's illegal to sneak into other people's houses right?" Shinichi walled over to them, kneeling down.

"It was Genta's idea!" A boy with freckles said, coming out from underneath the table. A thick boy with a tanned skin and a bald spot in his short dark hair followed him, an angry look set on his face.  
"You wanted to see the ghosts too," he replied, folding his arms and scolding at the freckled boy.  
"Ghosts don't exist, Genta!" The boy replied, "I just came to prove you're wrong!"  
"They do exist!" a girl popped out from under the table, tears welling up from the corners of her eyes.  
"Well done Mitsuhiko, you made Ayumi-chan cry!"  
"I didn't mean to!"  
Shinichi sweatdropped as the boys, apparently Mitsuhiko and Genta, continued to argue while the little girl, had he said Ayumi?, continued to cry.

After a few minutes he grew inpatient, "Minna!" The boys fall silent and the girl looked up, looking like she was feeling a bit guilty, "I know ghost hunts seem fun, but you can't just break in to other people's houses!" the kids looked down, thereby showing their guilt, "Before I let you guys go I want to know two things, what makes you think this house is haunted, and more importantly, how did you get in here?"  
The girl looked up, "Ayumi heard a rumor about this house. The rumor said that strange sounds were heard from the house at night after the owner died." She paused when she saw Shinichi frown, then continued softly, "So Ayumi thought: Let's check it out, this haunted house of Etou. Ayumi thought that maybe we could find the ghost and help him cross over!" She blushed, then took a step backwards, as if she was afraid Shinichi would yell at her.  
But instead Shinichi sighed, "Rumors aren't always true, and it's Kudou, not Etou." he frowned again, rubbing his neck as he thought about what the girl had said. Were there really rumors about his spirit hounding the house? He shook his head at the thought, then realized one question hadn't been answered yet,

"That still doesn't tell me how you got in though."  
Mitsuhiko looked up, "The back door was still open, so we came in through there."  
Genta snorted, "That dead guy must have been a klutz forgetting to lock it." This made Shinichi send him a deadpan.  
"I'm not a klutz!" He said defensively, looking down at the kids who stared at him with big eyes.  
"Then..." Mitsuhiko muttered, his eyes turning wide.  
"Are you..." Genta looked scared, stepping away from him.  
"The ghost?" Ayumi shrieked, the two boys joining her.  
Shinichi sweatdropped, "B-baro, do I look like I'm a ghost? I just used the door didn't I? Wouldn't I have just walked through it if I where one?" The three blinked, then looked at each other.  
"Maybe you did it to make us think you aren't a ghost." Genta said after a while, narrowing his eyes at Shinichi as Ayumi tugged the leg of the jeans he was wearing.  
"He looks solid, can ghosts become solid?" She asked as she turned around to the boys.  
Mitsuhiko shook his head, "This only proves Ghosts don't exist." he said, and looked up at Shinichi, "Sorry for the inconvenience, it won't happen again!" He bended a fit forward as he said that, then sent a glare to Genta and walked out of the front door, followed by the other two. Shinichi looked as they walked out into the darkness, hoping they would be ok.

He ran to the door as they went through the gate, "Oi, omaira!" The kids looked around, making Shinichi smile, "If you want some real mysteries to solve you can stop by if you want, there might be some case files lying around here." He could see the sparkle in their eyes as he said this, and the threesome nodded with a hai, before running off.  
After a while Shinichi slowly closed the door behind him, realizing what he had done. He was starting to get impulsive, what had he been thinking when he told them he'd show them some case files? They were just some kids who, he couldn't forget that, broke into his house and thought he was a ghost. Well, he was dead, but still.

Slowly he walked over to the kitchen to check the door. It wasn't locked, just as the kids had said, which was strange, cause he was certain he had locked it before he had headed out with Ran. In deep thought he locked it again, this time making sure every lock had been locked before he headed upstairs with his bags. Upstairs he peeked into his room and saw in surprise a few books had been shifted and his schoolbooks had been rearranged. Someone had been in his house, other than the kids, the question was who? What had they been looking for, signs of life?  
'It's them.' the thought hit him as he entered one of the spare rooms, and it all made sense. They had come to check if he had escaped the explosion, just to make sure. The man in black had been there to make sure Kudou Shinichi was dead.

* * *

**Me: Please, I beg you guys, review, critisize! Anything, just give me something to live on! *cries***  
**Conan: -_-'  
Me: Oh, and thanks to Lyndsi mcKay for checking this for me~ Your help is appreciated!**


	6. Accident

**Kaddy 16 - You could say what you liked, what I could do better, things like that =3**

**Dannichigo - Yeah, well, be prepared for more suckishness, in an awesome way of course!**

**MidoriKo - Me: Whats the flaw? Masago was touched by the Grim Reaper, him being the Grim Reapers last soul. Then he died in the explotion and the Grim Reaper came to give him the 'Grim Reaper Powers'.  
Masago: ... I feel insulted...  
Me: You shouldn't! *pats him***

**Anele1996 - Whoa thanx, that's a big compliment =3. I try my best to give chara's their own life, it's nice to hear it's working ^^**

**the EastEnder - A grim reaper is someone who collects the souls of dead people to make them cross over to the other side.**

**Miharu Tsubasa - Here it is =3**

**perfectly flawed woman - Thnx, I try my best ^^. I'd love to check your stories, only I'd have to mention my English is not the best (I'm not English after all), even though I'm one of the best in english class *coughi'mgettingabigegoherecough***

**...**

**Me: A big thanx to the faves and reviews you gave me here! I really love it when people do that =3  
****Conan: *reading text in iPod* Juria... why do you have only the beginning of chapter 7, but already the whole chapter 29 finished?**  
**Me: Ah... Err, because it's a chapter with a lot of torture and I was stuck with chap 7?  
****Conan: -.-'**  
**Me: Torturing you gives me inspiration! *looking through the DLS timeline* Besides, JK Rowling wrote the end before finishing the other books too right?  
****Conan: Chapter 29 is not the end...  
Me: It's close to the end!  
Conan: Just stop spoiling and start writing chapter 7, 8, 9... *eyes turn wide in horror seeing what is planned for him* How much torture have you planned for me?  
Me: Compared to where you're going... *starts to whistle* **  
**Masago: *sighs* Ok, we get it... She doesn't own DC, *yawn* since she isn't Gosho Aoyama...**

* * *

A month had passed. Was it really a month? It all seemed so unreal, being dead but still walking between the living like he was one of them. Shinichi slowly walked through the hallway as other students passed, some staring and giggling about him, others chatting with each other about their school work.

In the time that had passed Shinichi had build up quite a reputation as Conan, both with the police and in school, even in public, though the press didn't know his looks nor his name, just that there was a new teen detective on the loose. Already was he called the new savior of the Japanese police, the next Kudou Shinichi, much to his amusement. But it also rose many discussions: who was the new kid? Had he come to replace Kudou Shinichi? Had the police though about the consequences it had? Most of his fans grew angry, writing letters nobody could ever replace him, that he was the only real hero. Threatening letters to him had appeared, saying he should piss off and that he shouldn't try to replace the master detective of the east, but he WAS Kudou Shinichi, how could he ever replace himself?

Megure Keibu didn't seem to mind having him around. He liked to have his assistance during cases, saying it reminded him of 'the old times when Kudou-kun was still around', but it was not like he had a choice. Shinichi still attracted the murder and crime scenes, only most of the time he had to be there to reap the souls of the victims. As to school, Shinichi had been crowned to soccer hero ever since he first joined the team, and the girls followed him around like they used to do, but this time much to his annoyance. He wanted to be left alone, and having a crowd of fans didn't really help at that point.

"Conan-Kun." Shinichi looked up to see Ran and Sonoko approach him, and he stopped, smiling gently.

"What is it?" He asked, observing the faces of the girls, who both looked more happy than usual.

"We are meeting up with a friend of us today, her name is Aya, and we were wondering…" Ran looked away, blushing slightly as she bit her lip.

"We were wondering if you wanted to join us." Sonoko continued, wrapping her right arm around her friends shoulder, "We already told her quite a lot about you, so now she's curious." She grinned and patted Shinichi on his head with her left hand.

Shinichi replied by giving her a dead pan, then he looked back at Ran, who was still looking away from him. "Err, sure, I guess."

"Good, then that's settled!" Sonoko replied, pulling Ran with her as she walked past him. "Let's go!"

Shinichi sweatdropped, then followed them as the girls left the school building, walking over to the main street of Beika.

As soon as they reached the street they stopped in front of a department store, Sonoko swirling around to look at Shinichi."You stay here, we'll be back in a minute." She said before pulling Ran into the store.

Shinichi sighed and leant against the brick wall, his head going over what happened in the past four weeks.

The day after Shinichi had found out someone had searched the house he had told Hattori, who in return asked him why he thought so. On this Shinichi had realized he couldn't tell him the order of his books had changed and several items throughout the house had shifted even a mere inch, so instead he had told Hattori he just had gotten the feeling it had happened, on which Hattori had laughed and said: "Yer getting paranoid! Jus le' i' be, i's probably nothin."

Several days later, Yukiko had stormed in with adoption files and his, no, wait, Conan's?, birth files and family history, saying he only had to sign the papers. He had sneaked out when she wasn't watching, running to Masago for an explanation, who told him Toichi had fixed his information problem and said he should accept his mothers adoption offer. Thinking the man had gone mad he tried to evade Yukiko for five days, then gave up and signed them. If he thought that was it, he had been wrong, now Yukiko texted him every single day to check up on him, called him up in the middle of the night and sent him gifts from the places she visited.

"I thought that by signing those stupid forms she'd back up a bit." Shinichi once said during a reaper meeting, where Toichi was absent from as usual. "I guess I was wrong, this is even more terrible than when she chased me around with those things…"

Ruri looked at him as she put down her coffee. "Do you want me to get you out of it?"

Shinichi shook his head. "No, I'll just try to evade her again." He sighed and dropped his head on the table.

This time Arden snorted, "Then maybe," She bend forward to whisper in his ear, but when she did she spoke with Masago's voice. "I could help you with disguises." She stood up, holding her post it's, and held out a small card to him. "Here you have my address, I expect you tomorrow evening." With that she left, and from that day he'd gone to her every Saturday, learning quickly how to change his voice and other things like that.

And of course the kids, how could he possibly forget them? They visited nearly every day after his offer, trying their hardest at solving the case he had chosen for them, a fairly easy one without deaths, but that meant it was an easy one for him, the kids didn't understand a bit of it.  
"Conan-niisan, can you at least give us a hint?" Mitsuhiko said as he looked up at Shinichi, who was sitting on a couch in the library, reading the paper like he usually did, which had become a bit of a habit of him.

"Try to look at the relation with his son." He said, putting down the paper and walking over to the three who were sitting around his father's desk. "His son had money problems and his dad refused to support him, even though he had done this in the past."

"Then the old man's son did it right?" Genta said, looking up at Shinichi who shook his head.

"This is hard..." Ayumi muttered, folding her arms with frustration. "Ayumi doesn't want to do this anymore!" She wanted to jump of her chair when Mitsuhiko's eyes started to shine.

"It was his girlfriend right?" He said, putting up a happy face as the pieces finally started to fit together. "In her statement she said she watched him fall apart and this tore her up. She also refused to believe her boyfriend had done it. This must mean that she stole the money to make it easier for him right?" He looked up, observing Shinichi's face for any disapproval.

Instead Shinichi smiled, patting his head. "Very well, you cracked the case, Mitsuhiko-Kun!"

After that day the three of them got better and better at seeing the details and finding the answer, and Shinichi was certain that one day the three of them would become fine detectives.  
A loud meow woke him from his thoughts, making him look down at a grey cat that was rubbing itself against his legs.

"Hello there." Shinichi kneeled down to pat the small animal on it's head, which replied with a soft purr.

'I wish life was simple for me.' His eyes turned sad at the thought, which he immediately shook off, having self pity wouldn't help him move on with his life, if you could even call it that. He stared up at the sky. It was clear now. After a full week of rain it had started to shine again, the sun had reappeared to him, again warming his face with her familiar rays of light.

"Edogawa-kun, what the hell are you doing?" Shinichi looked up at Sonoko, who stared at him with her hands on her hips and her eyebrow raised.

"Ah, I was patting this..." Shinichi looked down to realize the cat was gone. Surprised, he looked around, it had probably left when he had been looking at the sky.'

"Patting what, the air?" Sonoko said with a tone that told him she thought he had gone mad and sighed, straightening her back, then looking at Ran and Aya, who were standing behind her.

"Edogawa, meet my friend, Nanakawa Aya." Aya blushed and bowed quickly, nearly dropping her bag as she did, causing her to blush even more,"N-nice to meet you, Edogawa-San." She whispered, closing her eyes and looking rather embarrassed with herself.

"Ah, uhn!" Shinichi smiled, scratching his head and standing up, "Nice to meet you, Edogawa Conan," He gave her a quick smile before looking at Sonoko. "So, where do you want to go now?"

Sonoko grinned, making a peace sign in the air, "You'll see, you'll see!" And with that she grabbed Aya's arm and ran off, "Up to the metro station!"

Ran sweatdropped as she followed them, Shinichi walking next to her while they crossed the road.

Again, he couldn't help but stare at the people in front of him, chatting about all kinds of things. How he envied them, the people who were alive and could live, how he hated himself for thinking this way. He sighed, this brought him nowhere.

"Conan-kun, are you ok?" Shinichi blinked and looked at Ran, who looked at him with worry in her eyes.

"Ah, yeah, I was just thinking of something." He replied while they walked to the ticket booth where Sonoko was paying for the tickets.

"Are you sure?" Ran bend forward to see his face, and frowned. "If there is you could tell me, maybe I can help."

Shinichi shook his head, "I'm fine, thanks." 'It isn't like you could do anything for me anyway.'  
He looked away and for a moment there was an awkward silence between the two until Sonoko interrupted it.

"And one for you, and you." She said, handing out the tickets, "Now up we go!" With that she almost ran over to the stairs, sending impatient looks over her shoulder every now and then like she was saying: 'How long are you planning to make me wait?'.

"Mou, Sonoko." Ran sighed, causing Aya to chuckle as they followed her, giving Shinichi no choice but to go after them.

He couldn't help wondering what Sonoko had planned for them, surely it was something he'd regret being caught up in when they were there, but for now he couldn't be sure. It wasn't like Sonoko's ideas had always been bad in the past, often maybe, but not always.

"Well, let's hope we won't be too late." Sonoko muttered, glancing at her watch while walking to the edge of the platform, "I told them we would be there around six and it's already half past five." She sighed, then looked at the rest, smiling. "But let's not worry about it too much shall we?"

The others nodded at her while Shinichi looked at the time the train would arrive.

"Stop, come back!" a familiar voice shouted.

"It's no use running!"

Shinichi looked up as a man with a black cap pressed on his head in such a way his eyes weren't visible, a denim vest and dark jeans rushed up the stairs and raced across the platform. It was only then he noticed the handcuff around the man's left wrist and the cops that chased him, Taiki and a woman he didn't recognize.

"Stop him!" Taiki yelled, stretching out his hand towards the man who was approaching Shinichi and the others in a matter of seconds, and as he passed him, Shinichi grasping for his wrist, the man pushed Ran and Aya on the train rails, running off into the crowd of people while Shinichi realized what had happened and turned around, his eyes widening as he saw the two of them fall, while the train was fast approaching.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Shinichi's body started to move, jumping after them and grabbing Ran, pushing her underneath the platform, then grabbing Aya's wrist, pulling hard as he tried to save her, trying hard not to see the glow spreading across her body as the high pitched noise from the train breaks filled his ears. There was a loud bang, and everything started to move at a normal pace again, but panicked screams, the red color and the copper like smell of blood were everywhere.

"N-no..." His eyes went back to Aya, who's shaking hand was still holding his. Here eyes were filled with tears, her face covered in was red, blood dripping down her chin, her blood, he realized as he looked down her body to see her legs had been... "I'm tired..." She muttered weakly, her voice shaking, "I'm going to die now right?"

His eyes went back to her face, trying hard not to see the rest as he stared into her eyes, "I'm sorry, I was too late."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at him, "At least you trie..." she released her last breath as her eyes went blank, staring at something Shinichi couldn't see.

With a sigh he dropped her hand and turned to Ran, who he saw was unconscious, but didn't look hurt. He still checked her head for wounds, but found nothing, much to his relief.

"Kudou-kun?" Aya's hollow sounding voice came from behind him, but he didn't look up at her spirit.

"It's time to go." he said, clicking his fingers to call out the light, after a long silence he turned around at Aya, who was staring at him, her spiritual body complete again. "You should go now."

Her eyes observed him, a look of confusion on her face, "Are you dead?" her hollow voice seemed to echo around them as she stared down at him, then glanced at her own body.

Shinichi nodded, "It's been on the front page of every paper hasn't it?" He said, trying to distract her.

Aya looked away from her body, looking sick, "Then why do you look so solid? And where is..." she stared at her hands, which where see-through, like the rest of her body was.

"It's because I'm a grim reaper." He looked at the pulsating white light behind him, "And Edogawa Conan, though you probably figured that out by now."

He looked back at Aya who was staring at the light, her eyes filled with wonder. "Is it always this beautiful? It looks like a paradise..." She slowly moved forward, captured by the images she saw, but that weren't visible to Shinichi.

"I don't know, I can't see it." He looked as Aya stepped in front of the light and stretched out her hand.

"Say goodbye to Sonoko and Ran for me, will you?" She whispered looking back at him, before disappearing along with the light.

Shinichi sat there for a while, Ran in his arms and staring at where Aya had disappeared. What if he had followed her, what would have happened then?

Suddenly someone grasped his wrist."Come." Masago's toneless voice said behind him and Shinichi looked up at the man, who planted a cap on Shinichi's head.

"But Ran..."

"I'll take her." Taiki said as he placed his hand on Shinichi's shoulder, then took Ran over from him and left with her as soon as he had appeared.

"Now, let's go." Masago muttered as he pulled Shinichi with him, away from Aya's dead and torn apart body.

Shinichi followed him, but winced once he could walk straight and dropped to his knees.

"I think my leg broke..." He muttered, looking down, but Masago pulled him up, supporting him as they walked away from the platform towards the exit.

Shinichi looked over his shoulder, looking for the others as he spotted Taiki and the woman sitting next to a shocked Sonoko and a confused looking Ran.

Sonoko looked over to him as he walked down the stairs, limbing slightly, and her eyes widened as their eyes met. Shinichi gave her a nod as Masago pulled him out of view, looking down again so he wouldn't trip.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" Shinichi yelled as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, which was the image of his old self, then looked up at Masago who was sitting on a chair next to the table while drinking tea.

"It didn't seem necessary. I thought you would be more careful. You are lucky Taiki was near, otherwise it would have been a big mess." Masago replied, putting down his cup and looking over to Shinichi who sat on a armchair with a creme flower pattern on it, while Mine inspected his right leg.

"I think it's a minor fracture, but you will have to stay inside for at least a week before your skin tone will return." She said, standing up. "I heard we had an early death today? It must have been awful, poor soul." She sighed and took the mirror from Shinichi's hands.

"So this happens to every reaper who gets hurt?" Shinichi asked as he looked up at the adults.

Masago nodded, "It does, though for most of us the change of hurt and healthy isn't much different anymore. After several years our body starts to look more and more like how we used to when we lived." he sipped his tea again.

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier, like, when I first became a reaper?" Shinichi yelled at him, still angry for not being told such an important fact about his new body.

Mine sighed, "Knowing Masago he probably forgot to mention it, or thought it was better to find out yourself." She looked at Masago, who continued to drink his tea like nothing had happened, then yawned once. "Though I agree it was irresponsible if you not to mention such a thing. Imagine what had happened if Taiki hadn't been there? We would have to erase all those peoples memories of the event and recreate the girls early death!"

Masago shrugged and placed his now empty cup on the table. "Well, let's bring you to your house and I'll call your school to tell them you will miss next week's lessons." He said, ignoring Mine's statement as he threw his cap at Shinichi, who caught it and glared at Masago, waiting for Mine to finish bandaging up his leg before standing up and putting the object on his head, carefully hopping over to the door where Masago was now waiting for him."I'm going to hate you for this." he muttered, causing the man to laugh.

"I would expect you to." He said, pushing Shinichi out of the door as he opened it, then laughing even harder when the boy glared at him as he closed the door to Mine's apartment behind his back.

* * *

**Me: There goes the torture! *smirks*  
Conan: You hate me...  
Me: No, *points at end*  
Conan: Fine... *walks off*  
Kaito: Support my upcoming arrival!  
Me: *kicks Kaito out of the door* off you! You are spoiling the content of the next chapter!  
Hakuba: Actually, now you are spoiling yourself...  
Me: ... Don't forget to review! It doesn't make me write faster, but it's food to keep me alife!  
Kaito: *looks in through the window with a big pout*  
Me: *closes window***

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	7. Heist

**Winged Wolfie Chibi - Too bad they don't have that option here~**

**blue-eyed-blond227 - Well... I planned to write 30 chapters (I have a whole time line worked out too). I'm just a slow writer XD (but I'll get there... One day...)**

**Kaida-14Kage - He is~ And here is your update~ About TOM, there will be an update soon, but afterwards I plan to put it on a hold for a while. TOM contains a lot of spoilers for DLS, so I want to get a part of DLS finished before moving on.**

**LugiaObssesedKid - No Kaito death! I'm definately not planning to kill him (several other characters maybe, but killing Kaito doesn't fit in the DLS time line...)**

**Takato The Daydreamer - Be aware, more characters will be introduced. And thank you~**

**Kaddy 16 - Thank you~**

**Dannichigo - Don't you just love messing with Shinichi and the others? (There will be more messing~)**

**Miharu Tsubasa - You're welcome~**

**...**

**Me: Whoa! Eight reviews! Arigatou~  
Shinichi: Why do you support this? Is me being tortured nice to read?  
Me: Everybody likes torturing you...  
Shinichi: ... Why?  
Me: Well people, sorry for making you wait for the next chapter... I'm a slow writer...  
Shinichi: The torture lasts forever...  
Me: Also, I'm planning a rewrite for the last match, and don't forget to vote on what I have to write next! The poll is on my account~  
Now, off to my rp sessions~ *vanishes*  
Masago: She doesn't own dc... yada... *walks away***

* * *

"So, how are you doing now?" Ran asked over the telephone, sounding worried, sad and broken at the same time. Shinichi bit his lip, remembering what had happened.

He had died, and not much longer she had lost a close friend of hers. He hadn't been to Aya's funeral, for several reasons, the most important one being he looked like 'Shinichi' again and not like 'Conan', like he had done before he broke his leg, but also because her death, or more the way she died, had effected him greatly; the red color had left marks on his eyes and the copper smell lingered in his nose, her voice still echoing in his ears.

"Fine, I guess. My leg is doing better, only a few days and the doctor allows me to go out again." He said, peeking out of the window, "Don't worry about me though, how are you and Sonoko?"

Ran fell silent, and it took several minutes for her to reply, "I'm ok, it's hard, but I'll be fine." She said, more trying to convince herself than Shinichi, who saw through her words immediately, "I think Sonoko is doing worse though, she keeps saying she saw Shinichi's ghost on the platform, and it seems he nodded at her..." She hid away a sob, but her voice had given away her tears.

Shinichi pinched the bridge of his nose, "She probably saw me, I had turned quite pale after... You know." He sighed, sitting down on his fathers favorite armchair, and leant back, closing his eyes.

"I thought so too, but she kept insisting it was him." She fall silent at the noise of falling cans, probably beer cans if ojisan had been drinking again, and someone's voice was heard in the background, "Sorry Conan-kun, my dad is being an ass again. I'll see you soon!" And with that she hang up.

Shinichi sighed as he placed the phone on it's holder, staring outside again.

He needed something to take his mind of what had happened, only what? Reading books wouldn't help and he had already finished his homework, besides, he didn't feel like playing the violin either.

His eyes fall on the tv, and after a while of staring at it he put it on.

It opened on a news channel that was reporting news on the KID heist planned for the evening.

"Yesterday evening the police department received his note, saying the following," A note appeared on the screen, the small icon in the right bottom making clear it was KID's.

"The second day in midst of night  
When my critics and I shall arrive,  
I'll take the queen with power,  
KID~"

The screen flashed back to the female reporter, who was now holding her papers. "According to the police it means KID will steal the gem Jōo that is exhibited in the Royal Touto Museum this week.." Shinichi leant back, ignoring the rest as his mind went over the information he got. Visiting a heist would surely take his mind off things, but going to one while he still looked like himself...

The doorbell rang and Shinichi quickly glanced outside to see Agasa standing in front of the front gate, holding a bag as he stared at where the front door was.  
Shinichi inwardly cursed, deciding he should answer, and started to look around for foundation to at least cover his missing skin tone, hoping the professor wouldn't notice the lack of other features. The bell rang a second time by the time he had finally found it and put it on, and he raced to the door, trying not to further strain his leg as he opened it, "Ah, Hakase."

The professor smiled, opening the gate. "Hello, Conan-kun, how are you doing?"

Shinichi tried to smile. "It could be better, after all that happened. Life isn't exactly going easy on me..." He sighed, rubbing his forehead but being careful not to rub off his foundation as Agasa closed the gate behind him and walked over to him.

"Why don't you come in, I'll make something to drink." Shinichi had asked it before he could tell himself letting the professor in right now wasn't the smartest idea he'd had, but to his surprise and relieve the professor shook his head.

"No, I'm visiting an old friend of mine from elementary school. I just came to give you something." Agasa smirked and lifted the bag, "I made some more gadgets for you to try, since the bow tie was such a success. In here are some power enhancing shoes to make kicks more powerful, a soccer-ball blowing belt, a stun wristwatch and tracking glasses." He handed the bag to Shinichi and smiled. "The manuals on how to use them are also inside the bag. If there is anything you need just ask and I'll make it for you!"

Shinichi stared at the bag, then back at Agasa and nodded. "Thank you, I think these will be useful." 'If they work.' He smiled at the professor, who gave him a nod.

"Well, I'll see you another time!" with that Agasa walked away, humming a song while closing the iron gate behind him and turning to the left.

After a while, when he was sure the man was gone, Shinichi quickly removed the foundation, then stared at the contents of the bag.

There indeed were a pair of sneakers he remembered to have bought and lost recently (so Hakase had taken them? He should have known), an odd looking belt, a watch and a pair of glasses that looked an awful lot like his father's.

He observed them, then pulled out the pack of paper on how to use them which the professor had written with his small and nearly unreadable handwriting, but what included detailed descriptions and sketches, much to Shinichi's surprise.

"Hakase, you're really something..." Shinichi shook his head and chuckled, "Well, I guess I'll test these tonight then." He smiled, putting on the belt and the wristwatch and putting the glasses in his pocket.

He then turned on the tv again, hoping for more information on the KID heist, but instead he got a documentary on the rising criminality in Beika, so he quickly put it off again, dropping himself in the armchair once more. He had some planning to do for tonight.

And he had to look for a way to get into the place the heist was at without being found suspicious, that too...

* * *

The place KID had chosen for the heist was incredible. It was a large five star hotel owned by the Suzuki company, something that shouldn't have surprised him, which had a diamond exhibition on it's top floor, the 25th floor to be precise.

It wasn't the fact that the Suzukis owned it that made it incredible, but the richly engraved doors with swirly bronze doorknobs, the simple but elegant wallpaper, the expensive looking paintings and the realistic looking murals and not to forget, the luxurious furniture.

It again made Shinichi realize how rich Sonoko was. Of course he had had his own fortune, but that was nothing compared to what she had.

"You are lucky I had to let you in..." Nakamori muttered, half glaring at Shinichi, who sweatdropped, scratching the back of his head. "But I'm keeping my eye on you. It makes you even more suspicious now I'm not allowed to pull your cheek."

Shinichi nodded, "I understand, do what you think is necessary." Taking a deep breath, his eyes turned to where the Jōo diamond was kept, KID's target. Actually he preferred not to be stalked around by some police agent, he wanted to investigate, search for any tricks KID could have placed beforehand, even help the task force like that one time Megure-keibu had taken him to a heist in the headquarters helicopter. But then, being followed was way better then not getting in at all.

"Do you mind if I take a look at the target?"

Nakamori looked up raising an eyebrow, "You know there are only a few seconds left, right?" he turned to Shinichi, following after him as the boy walked up to the diamond that was put in a box which was surrounded by electric wires that gave off a certain voltage if you touched them and different types of sensors, though Shinichi somehow knew the white cladded thief would find a way to get through. "That's close enough!"

Shinichi froze and looked over his shoulder at Nakamori, who was nervously glancing at his watch, only to look at his as the man started to count off, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Smoke filled the room and as it started to clear, the famous thief in white came into view.

"Ladies..." KID spread his arms, grinning, "And gentleman!" he bowed as deep as possible without his white top hat falling off, then straightened and clicked his fingers and a large diamond, that was probably fake, appeared in his hand. "I'm afraid I'll take an early leave." He winked at Nakamori, who's face was turning scarlet. "Ja ne, Keibu-San." with that he jumped up, hopping over, or rather on, the heads of the task force members towards the window, leaving a trail of rose petals and confetti on his way.

Before he could leave though, Shinichi activated his soccer belt and powered up sneakers and kicked a soccer ball into KID's direction with such force he had to take a few steps backwards so he wouldn't fall down himself.

The soccer ball only missed the thief with an inch, but KID froze and turned around, a grin still plastered on his face. "That was dangerous, Tantei-kun. You shouldn't play with balls in such a crowded room." he jumped backwards, landing on a case that held a blue diamond.

Shinichi grinned, activating his sneakers again. "Not if I have a perfect aim." This time he was prepared, he knew the strength of the shoes and he could use them properly. He smirked as another ball popped out how his soccer ball blowing let and kicked it towards KID's face. This time he wouldn't miss.

And indeed he wouldn't have missed, but before the ball could make contact KID clicked with his fingers, making the ball explode into a cloud of smoke that filled the room and, once it had cleared, KID was nowhere to be seen. Shinichi inwardly cursed as he stared at where the thief had been, and Nakamori yelled: "Nani?" Before running towards the case to check for any tricks or hidden passages KID could have used.

Shinichi looked after the man, only then noticing the task force member closest to the police detective, and a grin spread on his face. How obvious.

As Nakamori finally approached the case KID has stood on not long ago another smoke bomb went off, surrounding only him with smoke, much to the task force's alarm.  
"Keibu-san!" a task force member yelled as he ran over to the cloud of smoke. At the same time a coughing KID stepped out of it, leaning on a nearby vitrine.

The task force member froze, not sure what to do as another task force member nailed KID to the ground, who yelped and then growled.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get off me you idiot!" He yelled pushing him off then noticing his outfit, "Nani? When did he?" angrily he pulled of the top hat and monocle, revealing himself as Nakamori. "Don't just stand there you idiots, he's long gone by now!"

The task force stared at him, stunned and surprised, then most nodded and ran off while others stayed where they are, reluctant to leave Nakamori behind.

Nakamori himself jumped up and ran off with the rest as soon as he had thrown off another task force member who was lying on top of him, making the rest, except for the member that had pinned him to the ground, follow.

Shinichi, who had hidden himself behind a large pillar, stared at the man with an amused smirk. Surely the task force was stupid and never seemed to learn from KID's childish tricks.

As he thought that the member picked up the monocle and top hat and quickly put them on after removing his mask while he slowly walked over to where Jōo was still kept.

"They haven't learned." he sang, slipping on a rubber glove after having put off the alarm, and started to cut the wires with a big grin.

Shinichi smiled, stepping away from the pillar. "I think it will take a while before they do."

KID froze and looked up, his hand inches away from the diamond. Then he smiled and took it, turning around and walking towards the window, holding up the gem towards the moonlight and studying it, "You think of them too highly, Tantei-kun."

Shinichi frowned, "Do I? Maybe it's the other way around. Ever think you could underestimate them?"

KID lowered the gem, looking over his shoulder, "I did once, but at that time they were helped by a now deceased meitantei." he turned around and tossed the gem at Shinichi, who caught it and pulled an eyebrow at the thief who was still wearing the task forces uniform.

KID grinned at his confusion, "It's not quite the gem I'm looking for, so you can have it." He turned to the window again, pulling off the uniform to reveal the usual KID outfit.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you on my next heist, Tantei-kun." with that he jumped out the window.

Shinichi cursed inwardly and ran over to where the thief had been just a few seconds ago, seeing him fly off into the dark night.

"Next time huh?" Shinichi grinned, "I'll be there."

* * *

His head went over the heist as Shinichi entered the large mansion he called his home, walking over to the bathroom to wash the foundation off his face. He'd have to ask Agasa to make more gadgets for him if he wanted to catch up with KID next time, maybe something like a gas ask scarf would help.

After drying his face he went downstairs and walked into the library, "Maybe dad has some files on KID..." he muttered, going through the shelves for possible documents his father could have stored. Quickly his eyes spotted a thick looking book that said case files and pulled it out.

There was a loud click as part of the wall of books swung aside, revealing a small room Shinichi couldn't remember having seen before.

"When was this made?" he wondered, entering and spotting even more shelves, only these were filled with case files. There also was a large computer screen on his left, and a large desktop with a crystal bowl on top and a comfortable looking chair next to it.

With another click the wall, or new found door, closed behind him and the lights popped on, along with the screen that showed parts of the garden and front yard along with several police channels. Shinichi stared at it for a while, then turned to the bookshelves with casefiles, looking for files on KID.

He soon found one, but that didn't give him the information he needed, so he put it back where he'd take it from and dropped himself on the chair, staring at the screen again.

After like half an hour he stood up, opening the door towards the library only to fall down as someone fall on top of him.

"Wa' da'..." His eyes widened as he heard the voice and his eyes met the green ones he had gotten familiar with.

"Err... Hi." he muttered as Hattori's eyes widened and his mouth fall open.

"Yer da' Kudou guy! But yer supposed ta be..." his eyes went even wider as he stared at Shinichi, who was feeling very uncomfortable. "Yer skin's... Darknin..."

This time Shinichi cursed, pushing Hattori off him and standing up, trying to walk away, but Hattori grabbed his leg before he could move.

"Wait..." Hattori narrowed his eyes at Shinichi, who was panicking now, not knowing what to do next. "Yer Edogawa too aren't yah?"

Shinichi looked over his shoulder, their eyes meeting again. There was no use denying it, Hattori had just seen him change back, "I am..." He sighed, beckoning Hattori to sit down on the couch.

"Den how?" Hattori asked as he stood up and the two of them walked over to the couch. "How do yah change skin tone like da?"

Shinichi sighed, dropping himself on the soft pillows, "I can control it if that's what you think." He answered, pulling a hand through his hair, "Actually the whole story is a bit complicated."

Hattori looked at him, sitting down next to him, "Den start talkin, cause I'd love ta head dey explanation."

"Well..." Shinichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I'm not sure what to say because I still can't believe it myself."

"Den start with yer 'death'."

Shinichi looked up at Hattori who stared at him with narrowed eyes and sighed again, "Yeah, well, I was poisoned by two men in black who then blew up my body to erase evidence." He rubbed his forehead, "Even though the blonde one was so burned on being careful because the cops where still around, I think it's rather careless."

Hattori raised an eyebrow, "So yer sayin yer still dead? Don' look like a zombie ta mey."

This made Shinichi chuckle, "I am, but I'm not a zombie..." he then frowned, "I'm a grim reaper..."

"Grim Reapah?" Hattori blinked, "Yer kiddin righ'?"

Shinichi looked up at him, "Do I look like I am?" His voice was filled with bitterness and his eyes narrowed at the Osakan detective, "I don't enjoy it, if that's what you think!"

Hattori raised his hands in defense. "Oi, I'm still a detective, would yah have believed yahself if yah had told yahself yah were one?"

Shinichi looked down, "You're right, I still can't believe it even now..." He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets, "Follow me, I'll give you some evidence." He then walked towards the kitchen, quickly followed by Hattori, and entered it, pulling a sharp knife from a drawer an turning around, holding it to his wrist.

Hattori stared at him. "Yer kiddin' righ'?"

Shinichi smiled, shaking his head then cutting his wrist and holding it up for Hattori to see it.

"Dude, yer..." But Hattori soon fall silent as it healed and didn't even leave a scar behind. "Okay... I believe yah, jus' promise yah'll nevah do da again..."

Shinichi nodded as he threw the knife into the sink. "I won't."

* * *

( Review, I know you want to! )  
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	8. the Messenger

"So da stuff had moved an inch, are ya sure bout da?"

Shinichi nodded, "One hundred percent sure, also one of my favorite book had dropped to the ground, and I checked the surveillance cameras, the two who poisoned me paid several visits to the mansion in the week after they killed me."

Hattori frowned as the two of them walked towards school through one off the many alleys in Beika. Ever since the Osakan had found out things became much easier for Shinichi, he now had someone around his own age to talk to, someone who wasn't dead. He also appreciated Hattori's way on seeing things, besides, being able to get the opinion of a second detective was never wrong.

The bad part was Hattori now constantly called him Kudou, telling others it was just a nickname he had given him, which not everybody seemed to like.

As they walked out to the larger road near school Hattori messed up his hair in frustration, "Dey are an illogical an annoyin' bunch of asses, Kudou. Sorry I can't help ya."

Shinichi shook his head, "I don't expect you to, so don't hit yourself ok?"

Really, what was there the Osakan could do?

After what had happened he hadn't found a trace of those two, which he had hoped for, but hadn't really expected. Had he really thought he would find them this soon? His head went over the topic as they entered the schools courtyard.

Guess he had hoped for it more than he had realized.

"Well, I can at leas' try ta help ya." Hattori said as they entered the school building, walking to the shoe lockers. He yawned then started pulling off his sneakers.

Shinichi nodded, taking his slippers from his shoe locker, then staring at his old one, covered with a layer of stickers and a photo of his face.

Hattori stared at him for a while, then realized what he was looking at and placed a hand on Shinichi's shoulder, "I'm sorry..."

Shinichi snorted, quickly putting his shoes away, "For what? Come on." He closed his shoe locker and walked towards their classroom.

Hattori followed, shaking his head as they entered and Shinichi dropped himself on his chair, trying his best not to stare at his old desk that had a picture of him and a bouquet of flowers on it.

"Ya know perfectly well where I'm talkin' about." Hattori replied, sitting down on top of his desk, "Bu' if ya decide ta ignore i' den do so." He stared at Shinichi for a while, who was looking through his bag for an article he had ripped out of the paper that morning.

"I know i's sensitive, but if i' is den why did ya pick dis school ta go to anyway?"

"I didn't, Masago did." Shinichi muttered pulling out the article he had been looking for, "If I could have chosen I wouldn't have gone to school at all."

He placed down the article, pointing at it, "Read about this?"

Hattori hopped off his desk and walked over to see the articles contents, "Serial killer on da loose... Ain't da bout da maniac who's been killin' all dose teen girls lately?"

Shinichi nodded, "I've been following the news on him for a while, just in case. I think I might have an idea on where he could be. I was planning to check on that tomorrow." He stared at the article, reading its contents again.

Yeah, a killer targeting teenage girls, which could mean Ran could easily turn into a target. He couldn't let that happen. Even if he knew she could defend herself he hated the idea of her being in danger.

"Besides that... To be safe I decided to bring Ran and Sonoko home before I visit the bar for the weekly meeting." Shinichi looked up at Hattori, "Wanna join?"

The detective shook his head, "Ain't got da time, havin' Kendo practicin' taday." as he said that the bell rang, alarming them classes were about to start.

Shinichi smiled at him, "Good luck with your practice then."

'Luckily school was over soon' Shinichi thought to himself as he looked at the two girls that were walking in front of him.

Sonoko was chatting a lot like usual as Ran listened and commented every once in a while. If he looked at them like this it felt like nothing had happened for a moment. Right now he was just Shinichi who was following his friends like the way he had always done, nothing more and nothing less.

After a while Shinichi slapped his head. Even though he loved the feeling this gave him he knew at the same time he was being an idiot. No way would he ever be the normal Shinichi again, so hoping for it was useless.

Quickly he fastened his pace to catch up with the two, who, fortunately for him, had stopped walking.

"Edogawa-kun, did you hear that?" Sonoko muttered as he reached them.

"Hear what?" Shinichi asked, listening carefully. Then he heard it: footsteps, closely while nobody was in sight. After a thud the footsteps came to a halt, making Shinichi look up at a roof near them.

On top was a man, standing with his back towards them so he could only see his dark brown hair that was bound into a short ponytail and the muscular and tall build of an athlete. At the same time as Shinichi looked up the guy ran off, and automatically Shinichi chased after him, ignoring the protests of the girls standing behind him.

The man was fast, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and easily hopping over walls and fences. He made it seem like nothing while Shinichi knew he probably had years of practice.

Suddenly the man landed in the middle of the street, his back still towards Shinichi as the latter skidded to a halt and frowned.

"Who are you?"

The man didn't reply as Sonoko and Ran stopped behind Shinichi who stretched his hand to shield them.

It was then that the man turned around, a grin covering his face that vaguely reminded Shinichi of Masago's, only the guy had dark brown eyes instead of Masago's trademark emeralds. Also he had a large x shaped over his left eye and a tattoo of blue stripes on his his left jaw.

"The High Court seems to like you, Ku..." He closed his eyes, smirking as he put his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans, "No, Edogawa Conan."

Shinichi's eyes narrowed, "How do you..." But before he could finish his sentence the man had disappeared into the park Shinichi hadn't even realized they were next to.

"Damn..." Shinichi kicked a stone and put one hand into his pocket, looking after the guy. Man, how could he be so stupid? He'd been too busy staring at him to even notice a damn park.

He sighed and shook his head before beckoning the girls to follow him back to their route, "Come on, you two should go home."

"Chotto, Edogawa-kun!" Sonoko said, catching up with him as he started to walk, "You knew him?"

Shinichi shook his head as Ran caught up with him, walking on his left, "No, but apparently he knows and recognizes me." He put his hand to his chin to concentrate, his left still in his pocket.

"But he knew your name, maybe he heard of you?" Ran commented, trying not to look at him due to his Shinichi way of thinking, but Shinichi himself didn't even notice.

"Could be..." he muttered, frowning. The guy had reminded him of Masago... Were they relatives? But Masago was dead... Would that mean he wasn't the only one becoming a grim reaper? And what was it with the blue stripes?

'A messenger...'

The thought flashed through his mind, making him frown. A messenger, what the hell was a messenger? Suddenly the image of a large table surrounded by important looking people appeared in his mind. He was standing at the head and looked down at the guy he saw just a few seconds ago, who was kneeling at his feet, his mouth moving.

"Edogawa-kun!" Shinichi's head snapped up, hearing the name he had finally gotten familiar with.

In front of him Sonoko was standing with her hands on her hips, "We are at my house, so you can go now." She then took Ran's hand and pulled her to the gates that opened to the courtyard of the huge Suzuki mansion, "Don't worry about Ran here, she's gonna stay here tonight!"

Shinichi blinked as the two walked out of sight, rubbing his head in confusion.

How long had he been thinking? Probably a while... He hadn't even noticed they passed the main road.

Sighing he opened his bag, taking out the hoverboard Agasa had given him that morning along with an incredibly long how to use it tutorial.

Quickly he put it down and stepped on the power button, hearing its engine activate and a bit too soon he speeded off towards his next destination, nearly losing his balance as the board gained speed.

"Whoa..." He looked down at the object, which was racing across the pavement, and smirked with amusement.

He was going to have fun with this thing.

His hair whipped up as he quickly gained control of his hoverboard, racing towards the weekly meeting point. He was already late, he noted once he looked at his watch and jumped of his board, catching it as he kicked it up and hurriedly entered the bar, running over the usual table.

Instead of the scolding he had expected though, the group didn't even look up as he dropped down on his seat, panting slightly, but it was only then that he noticed the serious looks on their faces.

Before he could even ask Masago spoke up.

"He's in town..."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow at this, "He?"

"Matsumoto." Arden replied as she extinguished her cigarette, taking off her sunglasses to reveal her deep chocolate brown eyes as Masago sighed.

"Hatano Matsumoto, killed by a bear along with my sister Hatano Naoko, both of them became messengers before I died." he continued, "Matsumoto, though the nicest of the two, brings the bad news whilst Naoko... The evil one, she brings the good news."

"We all know you don't like her, Masago-San." Toichi said, leaning over Shinichi's shoulder, who looked up at him in surprise.

"Toichi... What are you doing here?" He said softly as the man himself looked down at him with a grin.

"I went to get him." At the sound of that voice everybody looked up.

Next to Toichi stood the man Shinichi had chased earlier, complete with a grin on his face and hands in his pockets.

"Matsumoto." Masago muttered, frowning at his younger brother, "What did they send you for this time?"

Matsumoto chuckled, pulling a chair over so he could sit next to his elder brother, "The usual with a small addition." He grinned, sending a glance at the people around the table, his eyes stopping on Shinichi a little longer before he closed his eyes, leaning against the back of his chair, "Arden gets the message to stop shooting her souls, I had to call it a final warning this time. Mine, they want you to switch names and job, you've been in one place for too long. Ruri-San, one of your clients will be killed in 15 minutes, they want you to hurry over. Taiki, you will have to follow her. Finally, Edogawa..." Matsumoto's eyes moved to Shinichi, who blinked at the use of his cover name, "They aren't pleased with your actions. You've been rash and careless, letting someone find out the secret."

Shinichi grew red, his mind going to Hattori, "I didn't mean to, he just kind of... Broke into my house before my skin tone could return..."

"Then you should have looked at your cameras better." Matsumoto replied matter-of-factly, not looking at him as he pulled an orange from his pocket and started peeling it.

"What?" Shinichi stared at him, wide eyed, "Have you been spying on me?"

"I have better things to do." Matsumoto sat up, putting a piece or orange in his mouth while looking at Shinichi who glared at him in return.

"Then how did you..." before he could finish though, Matsumoto interrupted him.

"Don't underestimate the High Court boy."

There it was again, the 'High Court' he had mentioned earlier. Somehow Shinichi couldn't help but feeling hate rush through his body when he heard about it, even though he didn't have a clue why. Quickly he opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Masago had spoken up already.

"What was the extra news you decided to bring us?"

"Reincarnation." Matsumoto muttered, swallowing his third piece of orange, "After the high Edogawa-Sama decided to reincarnate more and more old souls have been following his footsteps, including several members of the Court, who had to be replaced on short notice." he took a deep breath, folding his arms, "And believe me when I say they take everybody."

"Doesn't that go against all the rules they made?" Mine said, frowning deeply, "That's against the integrity of the High Court!"

"I guess that means the new head just doesn't care about it." Taiki replied, "Has there been any news on finding the high head's soul?"

Matsumoto grinned softly, "Oh, they found him over a few months ago. Matsuro even made sure he got into a sudden death. By now they are observing his moves and actions to see if he remembers and is capable enough to lead again."

At this Shinichi jumped up, "Are they crazy?" Angrily he stared at Matsumoto, who just gave him a bored look in return, "How can they do that? How can they be that selfish? Killing him just because he used to be their leader!"

Matsumoto sighed, rubbing his forehead, "I don't say they did a good thing boy, but it's how it goes, the High Court exists from the eldest souls in the society, their head being eldest off all. There wouldn't be any choice."

Shinichi didn't reply, sitting down again with an angry look on his face.

"Well, I guess I should leave now." Matsumoto stood up, putting the last piece of orange in his mouth as he walked off, giving a final wave before putting his hands in his pockets and exiting the small restaurant.

There was a long silence before Taiki and Ruri excused themselves to look for the client that would die, again leaving the remaining group in silence as they left.

"That was strange..." Toichi muttered after a while, "Certainly nothing I think I should be called out for, but still strange."

Masago shook his head, still looking unnaturally worried, "No, he was right, this was bad news. If the Court is so desperate they take in everybody to fill their empty seats around the table... Imagine what could happen."

"It would be a disaster." Arden smirked as she said that, chuckling softly, "They certainly are fools, thinking old souls couldn't reincarnate as well. I don't blame the eldest, he must have been sick of it all."

Mine looked at her, an angry expression on her face, "Being sick of it or not, he still had his responsibilities. He could at least have warned them!"

Arden just chuckled at her outburst, blowing smoke in to the small woman's face, who coughed and quickly moved away.

"He did have responsibilities." Shinichi muttered and looked at his knees, "But how can you warn someone if you are going to reincarnate. Do you feel it coming? Can you sense it?"

Before getting an answer he shook his head, standing up, "Toichi, would you mind following me? I want to check something out, but it might be dangerous."

Toichi grinned at his question, "Sure, why not?" With that he stood up, ignoring the stares of the remaining group of reapers as both quickly left the restaurant and entered the now chilly evening, one of the first signs of fall, and as Shinichi shivered due to a cold breeze he realized how much time had passed after he had died. Even after his death life had moved on like it was nothing, like it had meant nothing and yet he still went along with life's daily routines and watched from sidelines as the people who missed him started to do the same, a fact he both liked and hated.

Shinichi looked up at Toichi as another breeze lifted his hair, "I'll show you the way." and after a slight nod towards the direction they would take he started walking, Toichi following him closely.

* * *

As they entered the forest that lay between Ekoda and Beika Toichi sent a glance at Shinichi who looked around, seemingly searching for something, "What did you want to check?"

"The place the serial killer that has been in the news a lot lately might be hiding." Shinichi didn't look at Toichi as he said this, his eyes were too busy searching for the cabin that he knew was there which he hadn't used for a long time, "All crimes were committed in a fourteen mile radius from this spot, so it's a possibility."

Toichi gave a quick nod as Shinichi entered the bushes then hurriedly followed him as the boy moved through the dense forest past the trees that were growing so close to each other you could barely walk through them, until they reached a small path of shattered white shells that soon grew wider as they moved on, and slowly an old shed appeared into sight.

"There it is." Shinichi muttered, slowing his pace and slowly creeping up to the shed, doing his best not to make any noise. After approaching it he peeked in through the small dusty window, finding it empty, "I think we can enter."

"Already thought so." Shinichi blinked as Toichi appeared in front of the window, waving at him with a large grin.

"You're kidding..." He sighed, walking towards the door and opening it to see Toichi looking around, "Any trace of someone having lived here?"

"Besides the footprints made in the dust," Toichi said with a grin, "there is a trail of them throughout the shed, the most recent one seemingly ending there..." he pointed to a spot in the middle of the shed near a hatch cover, where the layer of dust seemed most thin. Shinichi frowned and walked over to it, kneeling down to investigate.

"I think I know where our suspect might be..." with one swift movement he lifted the hatchway cover revealing two wide and panicked eyes. But panic quickly turned to desperation as the owner of the eyes pulled out a knife,

"STEP BACK!" he yelled, pointing the object at them, quickly taken aback when neither of the two threatened persons seemed afraid of him, "I MEAN IT!"

"Ah, we know you do..." Shinichi said with a sigh, "Put that thing away ok? You might hurt yourself." he held out his hand towards the man, whose eyes turned weary, "Just give it to me, I'll get rid of it for you."

"NEVER!" the man's voice turned hoarse and his knuckles turned white when his grip on the knife tightened, and before Shinichi could convince him to drop the object he lurched forwards to where Toichi was standing.

Toichi didn't even have time to act before the knife pierced his chest and he just gasped, not moving an inch while the man who just stabbed him breathed heavily.

"Y-you're really being serious..." the man stepped back, temporarily forgetting the knife and pointing at Toichi with a shaking hand, who merely smiled in return.

"Y-You should be dead!"

"I am... For eight years already..." Toichi panted slightly, red staining his white blouse where his heart had been pierced.

"E-eight..." The man muttered as he took another step away from Toichi, causing himself to trip over his feet and fall down, his back against the wall. Shinichi glanced at Toichi, whose skin was turning a sickly shade of grey. "O-oi, are you ok?"

Toichi didn't answer, instead he walked over to the man who cringed, making himself small and holding his arms over his head as if he tried to protect himself.

"Don't try to kill a Shinigami..."

Just as Toichi pulled out some fluffy pink cuffs and placed then around the man's wrists the door was thrown open and Masago ran in followed by a policemen.

Shinichi quickly stepped in front of him, trying to hide Toichi from sight as he stood up, already having pulled out the knife and cleaned it on his sleeve.

"What happened, is everybody safe?" the cop said hurrying to the man who had passed out, giving Toichi the opportunity to slip away with Masago.

"We're fine." Shinichi looked down as the cop asked for back up, "This guy might be your serial killer though." he watched in silence as the cop went around the shed and his back up arrived, and wondered whether Toichi would be alright.

* * *

**And cut. Yup people, finally a new chapter. Just've been so busy... stupid finals X/  
I haven't forgot this, I'm just busy and my inspiration just walked away from me... yeah, that's how things go...**

**RumorPhantom1412- Nah... Go mad? why? And cross between Kaito and Heiji? He looks more like takagi... - sakuramaiden1993 . deviantart . com / gallery / # / d3iw28t**

**Masked Bard of Chaos- More Hattori will come next chapter ;)**

**Kaddy 16- Sorry for the wait... and TOM is on hold as I said before XD**

**Hattori Sei- kun doesn't stand for kids... It's often used between friends. And yup, I love Hattori so he had to know~**

**Anele1996- Sorry for the wait, again ^^'**

**Kaida-14Kage- Ooh serious questions that I love to answer but won't because I'd spoil too much... A heck... No, there will be no catch, that he hasn't met KID/Kaito in tom means nothing, lol, and yup, there will be another KID heist. If he misses him or not... dunno actually. Probably as he saw him as someone who'd be fun to have around on heists... And I'm considering to tell K-chan to start working on TOM again so... There might be an update on that...**

**LugiaObssesedKid- lol, course it's still going, just busy with my final year and struggling with writing blocks and stuff...**

**Minna, I'm working on The House Haunted by Memories, the prologue is already finished and the second chapter is on the way. As soon as I finished it I'll upload the prologue~  
Also, look forward to more 100 theme challenge stuff and some extra drabbles about pandora~ see ya soon ;)**


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